


Fortune's Fool

by softrci



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Apocalypse, Blood, Blood and Violence, Eventual Smut, Everyone Is X-EXO Variants Here, Happy Ending, Human Experimentation, I Can And Will Hurt You, Junmyeon Is A Whole Mess But He's Trying, Kissing, M/M, Mentioned Do Kyungsoo | D.O, Near Death Experiences, Near drowning incident, Not Graphic Only Mentions, Not Horrible But If You're Sensitive To It You'll Be able To Detect When It's Coming Up Hopefully, Only Junmyeon and Chanyeol are Main Characters, Park Chanyeol is Whipped, Park Chanyeol-centric, Personality Changes Are Present, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Soft Park Chanyeol, Stay on your toes, Superpowers, Touchy-Feely, Whole Lot Of Fighting Each Other, X-EXO, obviously, repeatedly, why isn't that a tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:07:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23800534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softrci/pseuds/softrci
Summary: His blood runs cold.There are… lines on Junmyeon’s skin. Glowing red lines. They look like veins or engravings, but that’s not the thing that freaks Chanyeol out.His eyes are red, those ice blue eyes Chanyeol has become fond of, they’re fucking glowing red.
Relationships: Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 26
Kudos: 106





	Fortune's Fool

**Author's Note:**

> hi note it's not genuine EXO here, it's X-EXO with a mix of their original selves, so just roll with it lol  
> *there's a big drowning warning here, no death, but very near death!!! be cautious if you're sensitive to that!!!

Chanyeol just really wants peace at this point. 

He survived the initial rebellion, having been from a smaller district on the outskirts of the enormous city. The second wave nearly killed him, if he was completely human it would have obliterated him. Bombs were dropped after civilians that were screened and cleared all evacuated, making the entire area a danger zone. 

People like Chanyeol… they didn’t even try to leave at that point. 

One month in the entire area was a wasteland.

Now, nearly a year since everything began, everyone was a target by everyone. No one was a friend at this point, most people left are the wielders, the ones they tried to bomb in the earlier months. 

And Chanyeol, well, he was a wielder. Of fire, to be exact.

Chanyeol adjusts the backpack on his shoulders, not wanting to even _be here right now_ , but he needs water and the well in the backyard could only supply it for so long.

Moving through the dimly lit house with ease, he grabs two of the buckets by the back door before unlocking it and stepping out. Flowers must have fully started to bloom because it doesn’t smell stale anymore.He takes a deep breath once the air hits him, relaxing his nerves to an extent.

In the time he’s been here he’s cleared out a path between him and the river about two miles away, still having to step over branches and logs but he won’t lose his way back like he used to. The woods are tricky now, there’s no human noise and everything encompasses you, all the sounds come from every direction. 

He makes it to the river after a while of slowly walking, trying to relax from worry about everything. His head is mostly clear by the time the sound of running water meets his ears, fully relaxing him to the core. He's here, he can just get the water and go home and do whatever he wants!

Chanyeol makes it one step into the small clearing the river has created, leaves crunching under his feet, before he abruptly stops. 

_That’s… That’s another person..?_

_Out here? In the middle of nowhere?_

His breathes shallow, not daring to make a step in either direction. The other doesn’t seem to have noticed him yet, and the longer Chanyeol looks at him, the more he begins to notice. 

The man is swaying even sitting down like he’s too weak to keep himself up, both of his hands out in front of him and Chanyeol guesses they’re in the water he’s sitting so close to. 

“If you’re here to finish the job it’s not going to be easy, ‘Soo.” A voice comes out of nowhere, completely startling Chanyeol and causing him to drop one bucket in surprise, and the sound of it crashing to the ground spooks him enough to make him drop the second, panic quickly settling in. 

The voice is completely steady in contrast with how weak the body in front of him looks. Chanyeol doesn’t like it, he feels like he needs to run, he needs to get out of here. Yet it seems like his feet are stuck to the ground under him. _Figures he’s frozen up at a time like this._

Dirty hair shifts as he tilts his head to the side, one ear higher to the sky. Chanyeol doesn’t have enough time to even _think_ before the man is speaking again. 

_“Huh .”_ Is all that emits from the man before water is surging up from in front of the man in a _wall_ and the next second Chanyeol is staring down water shaped as spears.

Chanyeol’s body goes into overdrive, survival instincts that have been burned into his mind from childhood taking over his motor functions. 

Before he can even realize he’s moving there’s fire erupting from him hot enough to vaporize the water flying at him, loud hisses and crackles echoing through the forest. There weren’t many, maybe seven created and it’s over in a matter of seconds. 

The man hasn’t moved once, now completely still in his spot, not swaying any further. 

“You’re not one of us.” The voice speaks clearer, almost to himself. 

Chanyeol on the other hand is in full panic mode, his breathing a heavy, loud sound in the quiet area. He doesn’t know what to do, he doesn’t even know what the hell just happened. 

_Was that real?! Water just tried to attack him? Was the river defending the man? How would that even work?_

Chanyeol needs to escape before the water can _get to him,_ because he’s clearly at the losing side right now. Fire doesn’t mix well with water, not when there's an entire river at the other's disposal. 

He’s broken out of his mind when the man suddenly moves his body fully for the first time, his arms drawing up and Chanyeol can see that the water is almost _stuck to him,_ becoming thin and stringy like goo before hands finally come into view. Now that he can fully see his arms the way the water has crept up the sleeves of what Chanyeol guesses was originally a red suit, now torn in places and filthy. 

“I just wanted fresh water, I’m not here for a fight.” Chanyeol finally finds his voice and speaks up, keeping his tone steady and not dipping into the fear he’s feeling. 

The head tilts the other way, almost in what looks like curiosity, dirty hair following with gravity. “You’ve never met another wielder, have you?” The man asks, one of his hands coming to his side and that goo like water seems to spread there in one of the rips, and that’s when Chanyeol notices it. 

He has nothing on underneath that jacket, it’s _blood_ that Chanyeol was mistaken for another layer from this distance. 

“I have.” He says honestly, slowly crouching down to get the buckets in his hands again, keeping his eyes intently locked onto the man the entire time. “Are you going to attack me again or can I just get my water and leave? I’m certainly not a threat like you thought I was.” Chanyeol rambled and he almost thinks he’s misheard when a small, weak huff of a laugh echoes from the man in front of him. 

“Go ahead.” 

Chanyeol takes a hesitant step forward, the leaves coating the ground crunching under his weight. He waits for a moment, testing the figurative waters before he slowly makes his way farther down the river, putting feet between him and the other man.

It’s higher here, the bank nearly half a foot from the water. He sets down one bucket on the ground behind him and takes the other in both of his hands, gently easing it into the water, letting the flow of the river fill it up effortlessly. It only takes a few seconds and Chanyeol is straightening back up, setting that one down before dunking the second, wanting this to be _done and over with_ so he can just go back to the house and deal with his own demons rather than this. 

This time when he straightens back up he can feel eyes lingering on him, forcing himself to not look in that direction and focus on setting the bucket down so he can get the water off him. He flicks his hands a few times, ridding himself from the droplets before heating them up and flexing his hands out as the steam quickly appears and disappears.

“That’s all I needed.” Chanyeol murmurs mostly for himself, an audible reassurance that it’s over and done with. 

The metal handles clink as he picks them up, the once weightless buckets now heavy enough to make him have to tighten his grip. 

He makes it all the way to the edge of the forest before his conscience slams into him, the visual of blood coating the man’s hand in seconds flashing on repeat in his mind. His feet come to a stop, weighing the danger of what half of him wants to do, even if the other half is screaming at him to keep walking. 

The buckets make more of a sound against the leaves than his feet do as he sets them down. 

“Are you still bleeding?” He asks, reluctantly turning around to see the man now facing him, staring him down with intense, cool blue eyes. He must have turned when Chanyeol was getting the water, but Chanyeol hadn't heard anything. He had felt eyes on him, but he’d rationalized that might just be his mind messing with him. Apparently not.

Chanyeol doesn’t get an answer, so he swallows down his nervousness before asking again. 

“Do you want help or not?” He says, impatience slowly setting into his veins. 

“What can a vapor wielder do for me?” Comes out of split lips and it stumps Chanyeol. 

_Vapor wielder?_

“I’m not a vapor wielder.” He corrects and instantly the man’s eyes narrow and harden into a glare as Chanyeol takes a tentative step towards him. “I can stop the bleeding if you let me.” He says softly, like speaking to a scared, cornered animal, but the man never gives him any indication for him to stop getting closer, only holds that chilling glare on him. 

“You’re a vapor wielder, I felt the water dissipate.” The man says when Chanyeol is just a foot away, stopping there until the man gives him the go ahead. 

“Not a vapor wielder.” He corrects again, shaking his head and crouching down to make them at the same eye level. 

“Bullshit, there isn’t anything else that could hit the water-...” The man begins before Chanyeol lights one of his hands up, keeping it at the tip of his fingers so he won’t catch his sleeve on fire. The flames lick towards his palm as he extends the hand towards the stranger who’s now looking at him in complete shock and disbelief. 

“Fire…” He hears the man breathe out after a few moments of silence, his eyes locked onto Chanyeol’s hand and as he wiggles his fingers a bit, the flames happily dancing along his knuckles. 

“Not a vapor wielder.” He repeats firmly, keeping the hand held out and lit until the man reaches his own out towards him, still somehow drenched and dripping with water, making Chanyeol briefly flinch away. 

Hesitantly he cools down his hand until it’s just a light burn, small bits of smoke coming from his fingertips and he holds his hand out again. 

His breath completely hitches before it stops as bone chilling cold fingers touch his hand, curiously exploring the heat. Chanyeol lets him, his hand itching to get the wet feeling away from it but he endures it for the moment, having no indication that the stranger is going to attack him again.

After what must have been two minutes at least blue eyes shoot up to him unexpectedly. 

“Fire.” He repeats, making Chanyeol in his surprised state just dumbly nod. “You’re a fire wielder.” He adds on like he still doesn’t believe him. 

“I am.” He confirms, and it’s like something clicks in the man’s mind before he takes back his hand. 

“You can’t stay here.” He says, eyeing Chanyeol warily. 

“I’m fine, there’s a place a little ways away I’m staying at if you want to come with me. I mean- That’s if you don’t have anywhere else to go, you know?” He rambles, the hand now extinguished by the water droplets, and he briefly heats it up to get rid of them again. “I can help you.”

“You have some hero complex or are you just _stupid?_ ” The man’s voice turns colder, eyes narrowing again. Chanyeol’s taken back by that, thinking that they were on ‘you don’t hurt me I don’t hurt you’ terms right now. “It’s a bloodbath out here. Everyone from the compound is loose. I can handle myself, but you can't, you're _soft.”_

“I’ve been on my own since this started. I _can_ handle myself.” Chanyeol retorts, irritation slowly creeping in his veins.

It’s quiet for a few moments, the man just watching him with blank eyes before Chanyeol registers something wrapping around his ankle, yanking out one of his ankles and making him tumble to the ground with a yelp.

“Maybe against the drones, but not against everyone else here.” The man says with no room for argument in his voice, and Chanyeol is slowly finally putting the pieces together. 

“You’re… You’re one of the people from the riots. You were trapped in the buildings, weren’t you?” He asks, getting back to his feet with a small groan. His foot is soaking wet.

All he gets back is a shrug, but something inside the blue eyes twinkle, a knowing gleam of mischief or plain insanity hiding there. Chanyeol can't differentiate between the two anymore.

Chanyeol is about to say something else before he hears one of the buckets tipping over, his entire body tensing and not daring to look behind him. 

_An animal couldn't have done that, and it's too heavy for the breeze to tip._

The man in front of him doesn’t hesitate, though, eyes shooting to the source before his entire body closes off, slowly reaching one hand back into the river. 

_“Run.”_ The man whispers before water is cascading over them in an arch from the river, shielding them for a quick second. Chanyeol meets his eyes once more before taking off like he’s been told, jumping the river and sprinting into the deeper woods, squeezing through gaps in trees with experience. 

He doesn’t know why he didn’t question the man, why he didn’t _stay_ and help the man fight. God, he had to have lost more blood than what Chanyeol saw, so maybe he should-

_A guttural scream echoes through the forest, making birds leave the trees._

_That wasn’t the voice that Chanyeol heard, that was someone else._

Chanyeol doesn’t stop running until he’s safely home.

_He hopes he’s right. That couldn’t have been the water wielder screaming._

Chanyeol can’t sleep the entire night, the scream echoing in his ears in the quiet of the old cabin he’s called home for the time he’s been hiding. 

Every time he’d try the man would pop back into his mind, dirty hair handing into his eyes and blood on the hand holding his side. His eyes are fucking _haunting_ Chanyeol. That was the first time he’s even _seen someone_ up close, much less talked to them. Sure, the guy wasn’t exactly friendly but Chanyeol… He’ll take what he can get at this point to make himself not lose his mind in isolation.

He has to be okay. 

At the first sign of light through the tiny ripped corner in the curtains Chanyeol is up, grabbing a knife and his bag before unlocking and heading out the backdoor, retracing his steps from yesterday afternoon. 

He’s practically holding his breath once he gets to the break in the woods, the water seeming too loud today now that he’s listening in on any indication for someone there.

Bile creeps into his throat and Chanyeol gags, turning his head away and coughing, trying to catch his breath.

Out in the middle of the place that Chanyeol had been standing yesterday was a body. It wasn’t… mangled. He wouldn’t put it like that, but it was… gruesome. 

There is blood _everywhere._

On the rocks, in the grass, splattered on the nearby trees; it looks like the entire blood supply of whoever that is is now outside of his body, the only evidence that it came from him are the sites that it must have escaped.

_Chanyeol can’t do gore like this._

He tries to haul himself back up to standing straight again and walking over to the body, the smell of death already beginning overnight. 

Chanyeol tugs his turtleneck up above his nose as he nudges at the body with his boot, rolling it from its side to its back.

_Oh._

It’s not a normal person, it’s some kind of… military personnel..? Chanyeol wasn’t educated on the land before this but he recognizes the patch with two wings on it. He’s seen it before.

So that’s who was going to attack them yesterday, not another wielder, but someone who was probably aiding higher ups with gaining back control over all the wielders that escaped.

Chanyeol is about to cut his losses and turn around, ready to go deeper into the forest and hunt, before he turns a bit to the side he hasn’t before, seeing a glint of metal reflecting the sunrise.

There, on the bank where Chanyeol had originally dipped them into the water, sit both of the buckets. Full to the brim with unnaturally clean water, to be precise. 

He lets out a shaky breath, walking over to the buckets and eyeing them suspiciously before looking back up to survey the river around him more thoroughly this time.

But nothing is out of place, only the red and the man is new. No fresh footprints, no sign of people walking through the brush and crushing it down, and no sign of the man he met yesterday. 

He shouldn’t feel disappointed, he really shouldn't, he doesn’t even _know_ the guy, but he _does_. He’s the first person Chanyeol has interacted in over a year and Chanyeol is foolish to think that he’d stick around to chat with him again. 

Chanyeol pauses, fully stops, and finally agrees with himself on something. 

He walks over to the body, placing his hands on his hips and taking a deep breath as if it would offer courage that he doesn’t have right now.

“Alright, you can do this. It’s just a body. It won’t bite, it just smells.” He mumbles under his breath to hype himself up, shaking his hands a few times before fully crouching down at the man’s head, hooking his arms under the mans before whining to himself at feeling how rigor mortise has already set in.

Chanyeol’s not weak at all, he’s actually quite strong, but dragging a very stiff body deep into the woods through trees and brush is _hard._

He feels completely grossed out and filthy once he finally finds a clear place and sets the body down. The moment he gets back near the river he dunks his arms in, scrubbing them to get the blood at least off of them if he can’t now get it off of his shirt. 

He doesn’t bother to dry his hands, dropping his backpack before picking up one of the buckets with a small grunt, walking over to the rocks and tossing the water over them, taking off most of the remaining blood in one go. 

Chanyeol looks over them with a small, content hum before walking back to the low bank and dipping his bucket back into the river. 

_Well, time to get to work._

It takes nearly an hour, but by the time he finishes the task the entire clearing by the river only has tiny spots of blood, not at all covered like it was.

It feels… better.

He doesn’t want to have to step over a rotting body every day that he comes here, more so he doesn’t want all that garbage to get into the river and pollute it. That’s his drinking water, and what goes around comes around. 

Chanyeol huffs out a satisfied breath, hands settling on his hips again as he surveyed the now clean (but very wet) area. 

He walks back to the cabin with one bucket of river water he’s going to have to boil to clean, and one bucket of the remaining eerily clean water.

He doesn’t see the injured man the entire time he’s out, and Chanyeol starts to get the seeds of doubt in his mind that maybe he’ll never see him again.

For the next three days Chanyeol is stuck inside, hard thunder and lightning roaring outside, each rumble shaking the little cabin. He places his buckets outside for the day and once in the afternoon and morning he goes out to get them. 

He feels so clammed up in the house. He’s used to going out and doing things _outside_ every day, so he feels almost trapped inside now. He knows he can technically go outside and do things, but it’s not worth the drying of clothes and effort he’ll have to put in to keep the inside of the house not wet. 

He’s in the middle of munching on some dried meat when a flash of _something_ goes by one of the windows. It's nearing sunset now, just enough light remaining to dimly light up the cabin behind the sheer living room curtains.

Chanyeol immediately slides what he was eating under a chair and slips into the tight space underneath the couch he was leaning against, thankful that he can still manage to fit without any part of him being visible. 

Nothing inside the house should give away that someone is living inside, Chanyeol keeps all the food, necessities and his bag tucked away in the back of the closet in the bedroom. He hates how fear skyrockets through him as he hears a small knock on the front door, trying to keep his breathing steady and silent. 

Nothing else happens for what must have been hours, but Chanyeol never comes out as dusk turns to night, and he ends up falling asleep there.

When he wakes up the next day he’s groggy, climbing out from the couch with sore limbs and he groans as he stretches out fully. 

_At least the storm is gone._

  
  


He doesn’t go out that day, still too spooked to open one of the doors, but the next morning he gets up at the crack of dawn, the water and firewood getting too low for Chanyeol’s liking. He tucks away a few pieces of the meat in the side of his bag before heading out, his skin still crawling but not feeling as uneasy as he did. 

The path has had a day to dry, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t find himself nearly sliding on a few leaves on the way to the river. He’s only carrying one of the buckets today since the other still has rainwater in it, trying to keep his noise down. 

When he gets into the break again for the first time in days, though, his breath is stolen away.

_It’s him._

Chanyeol takes a step forward, only a small sound of a footstep this time and in the middle of the river the man stills. 

He’s completely bare on his top half, and Chanyeol doesn’t even let himself think about the other half. When he looks away for a moment he spots the tattered clothes draped over a nearby rock, the filthy red clothes and something black on top of them. The river isn't too high, it probably only goes up to his navel, not in the shallow place that he was last time. With the man’s back to him still he can finally see that there’s a nasty forming scar on his side from the man’s ribs to nearing his hip. That must have been what he was bleeding from, but as Chanyeol continues looking he’s met with scar after scar. They seem to never end, most of them on his shoulders and faint, but still visible in the glow of the sunrise. 

Chanyeol slowly moves closer one tentative step at a time, not wanting to spook the man in any way. 

“You cleaned the place up.” Echoes from the man, a blank tone there as he mostly stated that, not making it out as a question. 

Chanyeol stopped in his tracks a few feet still between him and the man, but only about two from the river’s bank. “I did.” He murmurs, setting down the bucket. 

“You also wasted a bucket of the water I gave you.” The man says and Chanyeol tenses with how annoyed the man sounds as he speaks. “You know who that was, right? The man left here?” He says, sinking down until his shoulders are nearly underwater, and Chanyeol can’t tell if he’s sitting on the riverbed or if this is just something a water wielder can do. 

“To an extent.” He says honestly, taking another step and immediately stopping as he sees the river go eerily still, still flowing, but not in any pattern, now looking like it’s been painted on a sheet of glass. “They’re from the city, right? Government or something along those lines is my best guess.”

The man finally moves, the water not responding normally and just warping around him like he’s not even there. He turns and Chanyeol blinks one fucking time, and when his eyes open back up the man is at the edge of the riverbed, staring him down. 

“Tell me something.” He says in a tone that Chanyeol _does not_ like or trust at all. “Where were you when the first wave hit?” 

Chanyeol pauses, debating if he should actually tell the man anything about himself, not wanting this to blow up in his face and get himself killed. “Wyewin.” He says softly, sitting down on the ground where he is and doing his best to hold the other’s gaze. 

“Wyewin.” He repeats as if he’s testing out the feel of the name for himself. 

“It’s not near here, not many people know about it.” He explains, shrugging a bit and resisting the urge to add in more out of habit. “Were you always… inside the compounds..?” He questions, not knowing how the man would react to Chanyeol turning the questions on him.

The man goes silent for a moment, watching Chanyeol closely for what feels like hours before he speaks up again. 

“Our memories were wiped, none of us could remember the real world except Kai, but the crazy bastard wasn’t worth interacting with.” He says almost like he’s numb to the feeling of being isolated, and hearing that feels like a bucket of ice water was just dumped on him. 

“Are you guys-... How many of you guys are out there.” He asks quietly, figuring that from the way he referred to the other person that none of them were on the best of terms. 

“Ten. Eleven including me.” He states, coming a bit closer, nearly on the edge of getting out of the water. “There were probably many others, but we eleven have these marks, they branded us. I know one has a scar across his eye, and another has one from his lip to ear, but the rest I have no idea.” He explains, his hands appearing on the bank and in a seconds notice he’s suddenly hauling himself out of the river, making Chanyeol nearly choke on his spit as he turns his head away and closes his eyes rapidly. 

“Please tell me you have, like, briefs on or _something_.” Chanyeol mutters, hearing the sound of the stranger getting out of the water.

Wet footsteps pat over, taking their time one after another and moving slowly. They stop right in front of him and a second later he feels water droplets hit his legs, his breath hitching in surprise. 

Chanyeol registers cold, unnaturally wet fingers touch his jaw and before he can even process that _oh, that’s the man’s hand_ his face is being forcefully turned back to meet the man’s.

He abruptly jerks, not expecting the other to be literal _inches_ away, staring at Chanyeol like he was trying to figure something out. He doesn’t let Chanyeol go, though. If anything he holds on tighter.

“Everyone has thought fire wielders are all dead.” He says, tilting his head a bit to the side and now that they are this close he registers a deep scar hooking from the underneath his iris and continuing underneath his eye.

“Well, we’re not. Just… hiding.” Chanyeol corrects and a small, almost taunting smile pulls at the other’s lips. 

“Great job you’re doing of hiding now. You’re _soft,_ you shouldn’t be out here so relaxed.” The man comments, tilting Chanyeol’s head a bit like he hasn’t been this close to someone in an eternity and he’s trying to familiarize himself with touch again. “They’ll kill you. On sight. I’m not saying they’ll chase you, I’m saying they’ll decapitate you right then and there if they physically can.”

“Who’s they?” Chanyeol grumbles, his eyebrows coming together in the center while he debates if he should run right now, if this man is as harmless towards him as the good part of his mind wants to believe. 

“Anyone and everyone who’s out here. You’re not strong enough to take hit after hit and keep running.” He says, letting go of Chanyeol’s jaw roughly and irritation starts to bubble inside of Chanyeol at an alarming pace. “Do you even know how to fight? Or are you just a useless wielder that can’t tap into the extent of their pow-”

Chanyeol’s boot is kicking the man in the chest before he can finish those words, sending him toppling back into the river.

A sneer is already on his lips, getting to his feet with a glare aimed at the man as he re-emerges from the water. “You don’t know _shit_ about anything close to fire. If I knew you were some fucking elitist last time I would have left you to die.” He hisses out, standing his ground and the water that was dripping down his jaw turns to vapor as his temper rises further, the air around him getting what would be uncomfortably hot to anyone else. “Glad you showed your true colors though, but you’re barking up the wrong tree with that bullshit.” 

As soon as the words finish leaving his mouth though the man is lunging towards him at an alarming speed, something _inhuman._ He barely has time to take a step back before he’s tackled to the ground, the wind getting knocked out of him briefly when his back hits a tree root.

“I didn’t know that would offend you.” He states and Chanyeol just scoffs, throwing a punch but it gets easily grabbed by the stranger. “I’ve never… I’ve only spoken to people in the facility, never another wielder. I didn’t mean it offensively I just want to know-” He continues, grunting when Chanyeol tries to jerk that hand away and it just causes both his arms to get pinned down to the ground. “I just want to know if you’re like me.” He finishes, staring down at Chanyeol with those stupid ice blue eyes and Chanyeol is still irritated, his mind still partially clouded. 

“It obviously would offend me, you jackass.” He hisses out, trying to throw his weight to the side but the man quickly recovers and pins him down yet again in seconds. “I would be _dead_ if I couldn’t control mine. My fire would have fucking burnt me from the inside out, not that a _water wielder_ like you could understand that.” Chanyeol spits out, but the other man’s expression doesn’t change, still looking like he’s trying to observe everything he can to learn more.

“You’re right, I don’t. But I still would _like to._ ” He says and the honesty in his tone makes Chanyeol for a moment break out of that state, his resistance against the hold faltering for a moment. “I _like_ how soft you are, I just- I don’t want to see the other get to you. I don’t know what they’ll do.” 

And with that, the fight drains out of Chanyeol like a popped water balloon.

 _That doesn’t make sense._ Is the first thought that crosses Chanyeol’s mind. _Why is he_ pinning me down _if he just wants to know about it._ Is the second.

It goes quiet between them for what has to be a full minute, both of them just simply staring each other down. 

“Can I… Can I still take you up on that offer of healing me?” The stranger asks almost like he’s scared of the rejection, and as soon as Chanyeol processes what he’s saying (which, admittedly takes a minute with the feeling of water droplets constantly falling on him) he snorts in amusement, a small, genuine smile curling at the edges of his lips. 

“Your side looks nearly healed.” He counters, but it isn’t genuine, and thankfully the other notices that he’s not fully declining.

“I can reopen it, it’s easy-”

 _“No !”_ Chanyeol just about squeaks, a bubble of a laugh escaping him, and he watches in awe as a small smile pulls at the man’s lips too. It’s wobbly and uneven, like his lips aren’t used to moving like that, but it’s genuine. 

_It’s stunning._

“Do you have a place to stay?” He asks and that seems to puzzle the other before he slowly shakes his head before opening his mouth. 

“I'm staying here. By the water.” He says like it should be obvious and Chanyeol huffs pausing for a moment before deciding it would be worth it, it’ll be okay to take a chance. 

“Come back with me, I’m staying in a house a few minutes walk from here.” He says, feeling the stranger’s grip suddenly loosen in shock. 

“No- I couldn’t intrude like that- that’s _your_ space-”

“You _can._ If I’m honest it’s lonely having a whole cabin to myself, I always lived with other people.” Chanyeol says, giving the man a reassuring smile. 

“I’ve never lived with other people. I’ve only had my room.” He says in a surprisingly small voice, and it pulls at something inside of Chanyeol. 

“Let me go and as soon as I get my water and you get dressed we can leave. Or I can go and you can stay if you seriously want to be alone.” Chanyeol offers sincerely and that completely shocks the man on top of him, leaving Chanyeol wondering when the last friendly voice he’s heard was. 

“I don’t have to… do anything? No tests? I can just _go with you?”_ He asks like he doesn’t fully believe it just yet, needing one last push before he gives in, and Chanyeol is more than happy to give it. 

“You can. You don’t have to do anything, it’s your choice if you stay or leave with me.” He reassures, and it seems to spark something inside of the man. 

“O...kay. Okay, yeah, I want to go with you.” He says in the same small voice, but more confident and sure. Maybe in his time he’s never been allowed to speak for himself, or maybe he’s just not used to voicing it in general due to some other reason.

“Okay.” Chanyeol echoes, an amused grin creeping onto his lips the longer they lie there. “You’re going to have to let me go so we can leave.” He reminds, a bright laugh echoing from him as the man’s eyes widen and he abruptly gets up like he’d already forgotten. 

“What’s your name?” Chanyeol asks as he pushes himself up to sitting, watching the man wander over to the clothes and tug them on without any sign of gentleness. 

“Su- Junmyeon. It’s Junmyeon.” The man stutters at first but quickly catching himself, buttoning his pants before turning around, brushing his hands against the dirty fabric.

“I’m Chanyeol.” He responds, standing up and now that they’re both at full height he finally is able to see just how _small_ the other is. 

“Oh I don’t like this.” Junmyeon grunts, realizing Chanyeol is a full head taller than him, and that just makes another bright amused grin break out on his lips. 

Chanyeol says nothing, the smile is enough from him, as he goes and grabs the bucket, heading to move past Junmyeon when a hand gripping his bicep stops him. 

“I can do that, just don’t waste it this time. Let’s go.” He says, sounding impatient to get a move on already, and that’s when it dawns on Chanyeol. 

_The buckets of water were from Junmyeon._

_Junmyeon left them for him._

_Junmyeon remembered him enough to care about the buckets._

Chanyeol’s grin widens and it earns him a punch to the shoulder, _a strong one_ , but it’s worth it.

It’s terrifying taking this chance, but the glimmer of excitement in the ice blue eyes staring back at him makes it okay.

Junmyeon, it turns out, doesn’t wear shoes.

“It’s…. It’s everywhere here. Water is everywhere. It feels like home.” He mumbles, shrugging a bit and in the back of Chanyeol’s mind hatred brews for the people from the compound. 

Chanyeol hums in agreement, carrying the empty bucket and walking slightly in front of the other, leading the way. “How did you get all the way out here if you started in the city?” He asks softly, keeping a quick pace as they walk through clearing after clearing, never emerging out into main roads or public places where people used to be. 

“I managed to get away before they regathered and came after us.” He says indifferently and Chanyeol nods his head, following along. “I followed the river all the way here, but another wielder… attacked me, I couldn’t really go farther bleeding like that.” 

“Another wielder? You said you’ve never fully met another one of you guys.” Chanyeol comments curiously, glancing back at him.

“I… I’ve fought him before. Back in the compound.” Is the answer that comes back and Chanyeol makes a noise in confusion, stealing one more look before stepping over a fallen tree, having to look in front of him again to guide them. “We had tests. They would pair us up in a huge room and we’d fight to see how we’re progressing on wielding our power.”

“Oh.” He says, nodding a bit as it clicks why they’d have them fight, even if Chanyeol doesn’t actually understand why they’d do that completely. 

“He’s… unpleasant.” Junmyeon murmurs, stepping over the log behind him and keeping up easily with Chanyeol’s long strides. “He was always agitated at _something,_ I don’t know what but he was never fully there, you know? He is a force wielder.”

“Force?” Chanyeol questions, not understanding what that meant. Did the man like… crush things? He doesn’t know much about other powers because he’s never met anyone else other than another fire wielder in his town, and there was never any access to books about them or anything. 

“He… I don’t know how to describe it.” Junmyeon tries, going silent for a brief moment before speaking back up. “He’s connected to the earth, like any rocks or dirt he controls easily. None of my water could hinder that control; if rocks fell into the water I created he could easily get them free. I’ve only seen him move terrain and things like that- he _did_ cause an earthquake once but they immediately stopped and separated us.” He explains to the best of his ability, and the fact that someone can control _earthquakes_ is beyond Chanyeol’s comprehension. 

“I didn’t know there was a wielder like that. I’ve only really heard talk of the water and air other than our fire.” Chanyeol admits, catching Junmyeon off guard this time.

“Oh there’s more than that. A _lot_ more.” He mumbles at the same time Chanyeol gets sight of the back of the cabin.

“Well, you’ll have to tell me about everything sometime. For now though, we’re here.” He murmurs, stepping out of the woods and making his way across the small back yard. 

It’s pretty quiet today, the birds are not fully out yet since the rain only stopped early in the morning hours, but enough of them are to make it still welcoming. 

He takes an old, rusty key out of his pants pocket and swiftly unlocks the door, stepping inside and letting the tension that stores away inside him drain a bit now that they’re in the house, in somewhere Chanyeol knows is closed off from the world to an extent. 

Junmyeon hesitates for a long few seconds before taking the first step inside, glancing at Chanyeol in question, who’s still holding open the door for him to enter. 

“What do you even know?” Junmyeon asks, and Chanyeol registers that he’s back to the rough attitude again. 

“Not much, just like, a little of what you guys can do?” He says tentatively, genuinely not knowing much of _anything_ about other wielders. 

“How have you survived this far and not even known people could command the earth?” He grumbles, following Chanyeol into the living room and hesitating for a moment before sitting down on the other end of the couch, staring Chanyeol down in a way he can figure out if he likes or not. “There’s all the elements, but there’s also powers like time control, teleportation and telekinesis. I heard of a man with healing powers, but he was always kept away from us, he never fought from what I heard.” Junmyeon explains and it feels like Chanyeol’s brain is short circuiting. 

“You’re kidding, right?” He asks with a soft chuckle in hopes that it actually _is_ a joke but Junmyeon’s expression remains the same and Chanyeol feels half of his blood rush to his toes in dread. “No, okay no. Lightning? Sure. Light? Seems legit. But fucking _time control?_ No.” He rambles quickly, shaking his head at the same time Junmyeon rolls his eyes.

“That’s why I don’t want them to find you, people with those powers are _out here_ and you have no idea.” Junmyeon grumbles, a bit of a frustrated grumpy look slipping onto his face. _"I_ couldn’t take down Kai, I’ve fought him before. The fucker teleports around and is trained mainly in hand-to-hand combat. If he gets to you-…” Junmyeon continues before cutting himself off like he’s just now realizing the situation _himself_ . “He’ll kill you without thinking. He’s twisted in the head, not all fully there or _something,_ but it’s… things like this are a game to him. I don’t want him to find you.” 

Chanyeol is speechless, his lips parted in surprise at Junmyeon opening up to him more, revealing yet again that for some reason he doesn’t want Chanyeol to ever be _near_ the others.

Junmyeon is… odd to say the least. 

He has little habits that Chanyeol slowly pays attention to through the first few days living together.

He doesn’t seem to know how or when to touch Chanyeol, or if he can, and he constantly seems to reprimand himself. Chanyeol guesses that he wants him to light up like the first day so he can feel it again, but Junmyeon never asks for it directly, and Chanyeol isn’t going to waste energy for that. 

He has these… odd mannerisms to say the least. He’ll just stare Chanyeol down sometimes, not saying anything, but just _watching him_ like a predator does its prey. That’s the main reason Chanyeol never allows himself to fully relax around him like he wants to. The dumb part of his brain goes ‘well, he’s just here to keep me safe’ and then he sees Junmyeon look at him like that and the rational part of him says ‘oh, he looks like he wants to eat me alive, great’.

Chanyeol is about to settle into the couch for the night, which has become his bed since Junmyeon came, when a voice breaks through the quiet of the night and makes Chanyeol jump.

“Can I sleep in here with you? It’s been cold and the blankets don’t really help.”

Chanyeol blanks, trying to process what Junmyeon was trying to cover up in a long winded question like Chanyeol’s figured out he does more often than not. 

“It’s just as cold in here though.” He says after a beat of silence between them. 

Chanyeol can’t see the other, having blown out the lights just moments before, but from the huff he guesses that’s not the answer Junmyeon wanted.

“Forget it, I’ll be fine.” Junmyeon says and Chanyeol can hear him immediately begin to walk back to the bedroom of the old cabin. 

Before he even knows what he’s doing he’s already to his feet, lighting up one of his hands to see and quickly chasing after Junmyeon, who stops the moment he sees the fire. 

“No, what were you asking for? You can’t just get mad and storm off, I doubt I’ll say no to whatever you want.” He reassures, eyes locking onto Junmyeon and his breath stuttering.

Chanyeol then realizes Junmyeon always storms off every time he gets frustrated, never facing Chanyeol from the moment it enters his system. 

His blood runs cold.

_There are… lines on Junmyeon’s skin. Glowing red lines. They look like veins or engravings, but that’s not the thing that freaks Chanyeol out._

_His eyes are red, those ice blue eyes Chanyeol has become fond of, they’re fucking glowing_ red.

_It looks even more terrifying because he’s in one of the over sized hoodies Chanyeol had to spare, the same outfit that he’d just laughed on the couch in, now looking…_

_Not a monster, Junmyeon can't ever be a monster, but it was scary and Chanyeol just wants the normal Junmyeon back._

He’s watching him with that gaze again, leaning against the bedroom door frame, and this time instead of just feeling his heart rate pick up it floods cold fear through him.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asks, his voice softer and he fights to successfully keep the threatening waver out. “You said you were cold, right? I can go light the fireplace and we can talk-”

“That’s not what I want.” 

Chanyeol has to take in a deep stuttering breath, figuring out quickly that his features aren’t the only thing that’s changed, his voice has also become almost like he’s speaking through a radio, a bit scratchy, even if Chanyeol knew that was impossible to actually be the reason for the sound. 

“Okay.” He breathes out, resisting the urge to ball his fist with the fire out of nervousness, not wanting to be in the dark right now. “You can tell me what you want, you know. I won’t get upset, you’re allowed to want things, ‘Myeon.” He says a bit steadier, forcing himself to keep it together, because if he panics right now over whatever the fuck is happening who knows what Junmyeon would do? He likes to think he’s starting to understand the other but he’s just scratched the surface in the days they’ve lived under the same roof.

The eyes dim, and Junmyeon almost looks caught off guard, but Chanyeol can’t tell because the fire isn’t enough to completely light up his face. 

“Sleep in the same bed with me. I’m colder than the normal person, I want to be warm.” He states blankly, making Chanyeol’s eyes fully widen.

_Sleep… in the same bed? God there’s so many things that could go wrong._

It only takes a few seconds for Chanyeol to cave, staring back into now unfamiliar eyes.

“Okay, I need to get my pillow from the other room though.” Chanyeol replies, his voice the softest it’s been, not knowing if this decision is going to end up with him dead before sunrise, but he’s never had great instincts for things like this anyways. If Junmyeon truly just wants Chanyeol’s body heat… That’s something Chanyeol is okay with giving him.

_God he’s going to be dead in less than an hour-_

“Wait, really..?” Junmyeon whispers, his voice suddenly dropping back to the side of him more familiar to Chanyeol. In seconds the lines across his face fade to a small hue, his eyes going fully back to their original state, though, no trace of the red left there. “You’re not lying?”

Chanyeol hums in conformation, taking a small step backwards before putting his trust in the man he’s gotten to know, turning his back to him but never extinguishing the flame as he walks back to the living room couch one step at a time. He can hear small ghosts of footsteps behind him, trailing after him like Junmyeon normally does as Chanyeol moves around, and that calms his nerves even if only a smudge. 

When he turns back to Junmyeon’s direction the man is staring Chanyeol down still, but now in something close to disbelief, still not seemingly believing it was that easy to get Chanyeol to agree. 

“The couch is too small for both of us, we’ll have to sleep in the bed together.” He reminds, moving to walk past Junmyeon and through the hallway to the bedroom, hearing the other walking behind him. “Which side of the bed do you want?” He asks, moving to the foot of the bed before turning back to look at Junmyeon, who was standing in the doorway, visibly hesitating. 

It takes a few seconds before Junmyeon decides to speak up. “The left.” He mumbles, taking a tentative step forward and Chanyeol stays rooted to his spot, letting him go wherever he wants before he himself moves to the opposite side of the bed, peeling back the covers before pausing. 

Junmyeon is looking at him like _that_ again. 

“I’m going to put out the light now, okay?” He asks, not daring to look away, and Junmyeon nods, shifting around, the blanket covering up to his eyes. 

Chanyeol has to take a deep breath before he’s confident enough to completely curl his hand in on itself, snuffing out the flame in seconds and leaving them in the dark.

It only takes half a second for Chanyeol to decide he _hates this_.

But, in the next, he’s climbing into the bed, shocked at how it doesn’t have the same body heat under the covers the normal people without powers have. 

_Does Junmyeon run cold? Can he not warm himself up that well?_

“You can come over here if you want. I don’t mind if you touch me, you know that.” He says softly, wrapping himself up in the blanket as he fully lies down. It almost works like magic, having Chanyeol there now who runs hot. He can already feel it warming up, and from the way he hears Junmyeon’s breath stutter for a second, he realizes it too. 

“This is good for me, th-... thank you.” Junmyeon says, squirming around a bit to get comfortable, but other than that he does stay over on that side of the bed. It sounds like he’s not used to saying that, so Chanyeol fights back a smile that's threatening to creep onto his lips. 

Junmyeon is _trying_.

“It’s nothing, I promise. We can go get food together in the morning.” Chanyeol mumbles, tucking one of his arms under his pillow and shutting his eyes.

 _God please don’t kill me,_ he pleads in his mind, _please don’t take advantage of my willingness to give and hurt me tonight._

It takes a while, but Chanyeol does eventually fall asleep, the darkness never feeling more threatening.

He wakes up with a weight on his chest, but it feels nice, it’s comforting.

Chanyeol tugs whatever it is closer, finding his arms already wrapped around whatever it is. There’s no protest, if anything the thing wraps further around him. It’s nice, he hasn’t felt like this in _years;_ he’s completely relaxed, his guard completely lowered.

It only takes him seconds before he’s knocked back out, sleeping the best he has in what feels like forever.

Chanyeol groggily blinks his eyes open, seeing that the ceiling is significantly brighter than it usually is in the morning. So… did he sleep in later than usual? That’s odd.

He stretches his legs out, freezing the moment he feels other limbs than his own curled around him. 

And that’s when he registers a cool breath on his neck, and Chanyeol’s heartbeat nearly beats out of his chest with how rapidly it begins to beat. 

It takes him an embarrassingly long time for him to realize what’s going on. 

_The thing on top of him is Junmyeon._

_He’s completely wrapped around Chanyeol, every part of Junmyeon’s body is touching him in some way._

“Oh my god…” He whispers, not really… knowing what to do right now or how to react. 

Chanyeol doesn’t dare to move further, letting Junmyeon do what he wants partially out of fear, but also out of curiosity of why the hell he’s plastered against Chanyeol when he normally is timid to touch his _hand_.

_Well, at least he’s still alive._

Chanyeol stays like that for at least another hour until he knows it has to be around noon, the sun high in the sky from what he can see through the peek in the curtains. 

“‘Myeon… C’mon, wake up.” He murmurs, gently rubbing the small of his back, too scared to abruptly wake the other from slumber, the outcome completely unknown to Chanyeol. “We have things to do today.” He continues, his voice scratchy and deep from sleep.

All that it gets out of the man on top of him is Junmyeon shifting closer, completely tucking his face into Chanyeol’s neck. 

_"Hey."_ He whines, stiffening up a bit at the feeling of the other’s breath directly on his neck now. “Wake up, it’s already later than usual.” He grumbles, and that finally gets a reaction.

“I don’t care.” Junmyeon’s voice comes out suddenly, sounding completely annoyed and that makes Chanyeol’s heartbeat quicken again. 

It takes him a moment to regain his voice, but he eventually does manage it.

“We can’t just stay in bed all day, I have things to do.” He protests, but his voice doesn’t have the same confidence as before, the hand on Junmyeon’s back stilling. 

“You can do them tomorrow.” Junmyeon instantly argues, drawing a frustrated sigh from Chanyeol. 

_“You_ can stay in bed, that’s fine, but _I_ can’t.” He bargains, suddenly feeling arms wrapped around him tighten.

“You’re not going out without me. We’re staying in bed today.” He says, a tone of finality in his voice, and that sends a chill through Chanyeol. 

“Why?” He asks, shifting a bit to at least get back comfortable, or as comfortable as he can with someone’s breath on his neck. He gets no response, and now that he knows Junmyeon is awake enough to speak, he isn’t letting it slide. “If you can’t give me a reason then I’m not-”

 _"Stop_ _!”_ Junmyeon hisses out, already sounding ticked off that Chanyeol won’t stop speaking. 

“Are you cold? Is that it?” He questions, this time feeling Junmyeon tense slightly under his hands, and he knows he hit something with that. “If you can talk to me and give me your reason to stay in bed I might actually do it. But if you can’t then I’m leaving.” He says sternly, and Junmyeon goes quiet for a long time, Chanyeol letting him this time until he finally speaks up. 

“I’ve never felt this warm, you’re _not_ leaving me right now.” Junmyeon says, not as hostile as before, but a hint of it still hiding inside.

Chanyeol at this point doesn’t think he could get up without having to physically _fight_ him away.

“That’s all you had to say” He murmurs, shifting a bit before a thought crept into his mind. “If you let me sit up I’ll take off my hoodie and you’ll feel warmer.” He offers, feeling Junmyeon immediately react, his breath pausing before it resumes and he pulls back, fully looking at Chanyeol. 

“You’re not going to try to run?” He asks, eyes narrowed, but right now he looks anything but intimidating like he did last night. His hair is a big fluffy mess on his head, some red strands sticking straight up and some falling into his eyes. He looks… way too innocent and soft for someone who’s as terrifying as he is at some moments. 

“I won’t.” He promises, and with that Junmyeon shifts his legs to rest on either side of his hips and sits up groggily, staring Chanyeol down expectantly. “You can take yours off too if you want, I’ll make sure you don’t get cold.” He murmurs, propping himself up the best he can without Junmyeon getting fully off of him. The other _was_ in an open jacket when he first met him, so maybe he’s more comfortable that way. It takes him a second to peel the hoodie off one arm at a time, Junmyeon not helping the process at all.

Once he manages it he tosses the hoodie somewhere in the room, flopping back onto the bed with a huff. 

He looks up, seeing Junmyeon watching him with a weird look on his face. He’s just about to speak up when Junmyeon finally moves, grabbing the hem of the over sized hoodie and tugging it off in record time before he's back on Chanyeol, not giving him any time to take a glance at his body. 

The feeling of another person’s skin against his own sends Chanyeol reeling, but he doesn’t get time to recover before Junmyeon is resuming his previous spot and tucking his face back against Chanyeol’s shoulder.

He quickly forces himself to relax, repeatedly telling himself that this is _fine,_ everything is _fine,_ he’s not in harm's way so he just needs to calm down. Junmyeon just wants to leech off his body heat, it’s not a big deal.

Okay, maybe it _is_ a big deal since they’ve only been around each other for four days, but right now he can’t let this get to him. If he loses his mind later over this happening that’s fine, but right now he needs to hold up the promise he made. 

As soon as the blanket is back over them snugly and Junmyeon is settled back in place Chanyeol urges his body to heat up, more than he normally is, not threateningly hot though. Just about the warmth you’d get from sitting in front of a fireplace.

“Just tell me if you get too hot.” He murmurs, stiffening a bit when one of Junmyeon’s hands finds his wrist, jerkily moving Chanyeol’s left hand back to his back, where it had been rubbing his back before. Chanyeol can feel his face heat up, having to swallow so that he can breathe again. 

This was _fine_.

He's _fine._

“Do you want me to-” Chanyeol begins, hesitantly brushing his palm against the small of the other’s back before he’s abruptly cut off.

 _“Shut up.”_ Junmyeon's voice pipes up again, the irritation creeping back into his voice.

Chanyeol huffs but doesn’t speak up again, moving by instinct and wrapping both his arms around Junmyeon. That seems to be the right decision because it draws out a content noise from Junmyeon, and that urges Chanyeol further, heating up his palms to a comforting heat and in seconds Junmyeon is melting against him. 

_He’s weird_ _,_ Chanyeol thinks, _I can’t tell if he hates me or just tolerates me._

Chanyeol hopes that the other has at least _some_ fondness for him, because Junmyeon and his unsettling habits and way of speaking are starting to grow on him.

The first time Chanyeol _sees_ Junmyeon fill the buckets, he thinks he’s going crazy.

“Wait… You can just… Make it appear?” Chanyeol blurts out, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, watching Junmyeon do this for the first time. 

Junmyeon looks up to him, water still flowing from his hand into the bucket. He locks eyes with Chanyeol, expression blank before a hint of amusement appears. “You didn’t know that?” He asks, a light lilt to his voice and Chanyeol realizes after a moment that he’s _teasing him._ “You think I just spit into the bucket and it’s suddenly full?” 

That’s the most confusing thing about being around Junmyeon. Sometimes he’s like this, joking around and teasing Chanyeol, and the next second he’s irritated, not wanting to be around him. It’s giving Chanyeol whiplash and they haven’t been living together for even a week yet. 

Chanyeol huffs, a small pout appearing on his lips. “That’s not fair, you know I don’t know anything about your power.” Chanyeol whines out, getting up to go get wood from outside for the fireplace, but Junmyeon is suddenly in front of him, staring him down with big, curious eyes. 

_God, how does he move so fast?!_

“You’re so weird.” Junmyeon mumbles, reaching up for Chanyeol’s face before jerking his hand away like he’s reprimanding himself for trying that. Chanyeol stays still, watching as Junmyeon works through his thoughts before the hand reappears again, this time directly coming up to his mouth. He runs his thumb over Chanyeol’s lips curiously before his hand moves to cup his cheek and a mischievous smile grows on Chanyeol’s lips before he turns his head a bit, quickly pressing a kiss to the palm of Junmyeon’s hand and letting out a bright, booming laugh as Junmyeon squeaks in shock and jumps away. 

Chanyeol doesn’t wait for Junmyeon to recover, moving to step around Junmyeon to open the back door, but a hand is shoved back in his face, not touching this time, but still startling Chanyeol. 

“Again.” Junmyeon speaks, his voice quiet but there’s no room for argument inside of it. “Do that again.”

Chanyeol watches him curiously for a few long moments before it finally hits him why Junmyeon is asking for another kiss. He’s never felt one. “Have you ever been kissed before?” Chanyeol asks, but still entertains him and takes Junmyeon’s hand in his, pressing gentle, spaced apart kisses along the entire space of Junmyeon’s palm before traveling out to his fingers, feeling Junmyeon’s hand jerk the slightest bit with each touch of Chanyeol’s lips. 

“What do you mean? What’s being kissed?” Junmyeon asks, watching Chanyeol in something similar to wonder, and Chanyeol does his best to hold his gaze as he moves along. Always so eager to learn things that Chanyeol already knows.

“What I’m doing.” Chanyeol huffs out, completely entertained by now innocent and naive the other can be at times. 

“It feels nice.” Junmyeon mumbles, Chanyeol pausing as Junmyeon turns his hand over for him to give the other side the same treatment. Chanyeol hesitates, weighing if he really wants to get into this before he returns his lips to the top of Junmyeon's hand. “Does… Everyone do this?” He asks, his hand still jerking the slightest bit, but Chanyeol lets go of him and makes it so Junmyeon can take back his hand at any time. 

“Uh… It’s mostly between lovers? Like people who like each other more than normal, like wanting to be with them for a long time.” Chanyeol tries to explain, not knowing if Junmyeon even knew what _dating_ is. 

“Well I like you a lot, does that mean we’re lovers?” Junmyeon asks without hesitation and that causes Chanyeol to inhale sharply enough to then make him choke on his own spit for a moment, having to step away.

It takes him longer than he’s like to admit to steady his heartbeat back out but when he does, he still can’t look Junmyeon in the eyes. “No, we’re not. You don’t like me… You know, in _that_ way. We’re friends.” He tries to explain, completely shutting down the train of thought Junmyeon just opened him up to that he didn’t even go near before. 

“What’s the difference?” Junmyeon pushes, stepping dangerously close to Chanyeol and causing the other to have to tightly shut his eyes not to see him. 

“Friends don’t kiss or do anything like that. We just-”

“But I like you kissing me.” Junmyeon interrupts and it takes everything in Chanyeol not to run out the back door right now and never come back. 

_What the fuck has he started?!_

“I can’t kiss you, ‘Myeon. We’re not like that.” Chanyeol objects and he hears a frustrated grunt before Junmyeon is stomping off into the living room, finally giving Chanyeol room to breathe, even if his chest is dangerously tight. 

Chanyeol lets out a breath slowly, rooted to his spot or a minute before opening his eyes back up, seeing the kitchen empty like he’d expected. 

He can’t give Junmyeon that. Before now all he’s done is give and give and let Junmyeon take whatever he wanted, but to give his heart to him? Chanyeol… He just can’t do it. Not when he still has no idea what Junmyeon is thinking at any moment. 

Chanyeol draws back in a deep breath before finally moving and opening the back door, heading outside to bring in the wood for tonight that they’re going to use to cook dinner. It doesn’t take long for him, the wood not being that heavy. 

He steps out the door one last time just to clean up the pile, still trying to forget about Junmyeon’s words. It only takes seconds of him being lost in his mind before he’s suddenly freezing cold, his shoes stuck and when he looks down there’s ice covering his feet up to just below his knees.

Chanyeol barely gets a chance to process that it’s _ice_ and he’s quickly losing feeling in his feet before there’s a knife held to his throat, making him go completely still and his breathing shallow in fear. 

_Is this how he dies finally? After meeting someone and denying him something he wants? Without finishing teaching Junmyeon everything? What’s going to happen to the other man? He has to get away, even if Chanyeol can’t._

“Who are you?” A voice comes from behind him, and Chanyeol feels his entire body heating up as his anxiety grows. 

“I’m not a threat.” Chanyeol rasps out, not ready to die. Not yet. But if he has to, he’ll take whoever this is with him.

The knife digs farther into his skin, just a fraction away from piercing and drawing blood. “I saw the body decaying in the woods, who are you?!” The other hisses, temper rising and Chanyeol can feel himself start to shake.

“I’m not from the compound, I promise. My name is Chanyeol.” He says quietly, watching the back door and hoping that Junmyeon won’t come looking for him. When he sees a flash of movement by the kitchen window though, his stomach drops.

“You think that’s going to save you? You’re dying regardless-”

The door is thrown open, and out steps a furious Junmyeon. The markings are basically glowing on him, and Chanyeol has never seen him like this before. It then dawns on him that this is another user from the compound, and he’s ready to slit Chanyeol’s throat. 

“Get your hands _off of him.”_ Junmyeon hisses, coming towards them but the man angles Chanyeol as a shield between the two, and he watches Junmyeon’s movements stutter.

“Aw, is this your boyfriend, Suho? _You_ of all people are protecting a non-user?” The man taunts from behind him, and Chanyeol meets Junmyeon’s eyes, the whites completely black and the blue turned more red than he’s ever seen before. “That’s pathetic, he’s going to die eventually. Might as well kill him in front of you-”

Chanyeol’s body comes back online, his entire body bursting with fire, flames covering every inch of skin, scalding the man behind him and making him retreat the knife. Chanyeol sees Junmyeon move, getting full sight of the man before he hears a yell in pain coming from behind him, making him spin to make sure he isn’t coming at Chanyeol again, but the other is eerily still, barely breathing and a terrified look on his face. 

“You won’t kill me, not when-” 

_“Watch me.”_ Junmyeon hisses out, walking closer and wrapping a hand around the man’s neck, getting nose to nose with him. In seconds Chanyeol can hear gurgling and the man begins coughing, gasping for air.

_It’s not blood coming from his mouth, it’s water._

_Junmyeon is drowning him._

“Stop! Don’t kill him!” Chanyeol yells, quickly getting to them and ripping Junmyeon’s hand away, his body still having low burning flames covering it, but to Junmyeon it wasn’t a threat. The man immediately gasps for air, but his body never moves from the spot, and Chanyeol can’t figure out why. He just doesn’t want blood on his hands. 

Chanyeol can’t even think for a second before he’s thrown painfully to the ground, an angry Junmyeon looking down at him.

“He was a second away from killing you.” Junmyeon yells, but Chanyeol holds strong, wincing as he stands again as quickly as his body will let him. 

“I’ll leave if you kill him.” Chanyeol states, deadly serious, and that’s the thing that makes Junmyeon’s anger falter. “He can walk away and if he comes back I’ll let you, but not this time.” 

Junmyeon is silent for a few long moments, staring Chanyeol down before abruptly the man falls to the ground gasping for air, holding his throat where Chanyeol can already see bruises forming. 

“You really _are_ stupid. I hope he kills you.” Junmyeon spits at him before spinning on his heel, heading back towards the house and leaving Chanyeol and the attacker alone, the door slamming shut behind him.

It’s silent except coughing for a while, the man still trying to recover from whatever Junmyeon had done to him. 

“He’s right, you are stupid for letting me go.” The man says, his voice completely ruined, but he weakly gets back up to his feet, looking at Chanyeol like he can’t believe he’s real. “He’ll kill you too. Suho _will_ kill you eventually. It’s just a matter of time before I find your body in the woods-”

“Leave before I _do_ kill you. You’re testing your luck and I’m not that generous.” Chanyeol snaps, the flames rising and fear crosses the other’s face again as he raises his hands in a peaceful gesture. “You’ve got ten seconds before I burn you alive. _Leave.”_

The man doesn’t waste any time now that he’s realized what’s happening and who he’s chosen to pick a fight with, taking off to the main road in front of the house. 

Chanyeol watches him until he can’t see the stranger anymore, his flames wavering with each passing second, and once he feels safe enough, Chanyeol falls to his knees, only catching himself from face planting in the grass by a split second with his arms. 

He hasn’t had to produce a burst with his whole body in _years,_ and as the flames burn out, exhaustion sets into his bones. It’s painful, the heat from the fire sounding him everywhere is too overwhelming, and Chanyeol is gasping out breaths, trying to cough out the smoke from his lungs. Overexertion makes him less and less immune to his own power, and this time it’s smoke in his lungs but next time? Next time he could get burnt by his own flames.

He doesn’t know how long he’s there for, his body is nearing the point of collapsing when arms wrap around him and he’s brought to sit down on the ground, his legs in front of him and dragged back to lean against someone’s chest. He doesn’t have the fight in him to struggle, even as he realizes it’s Junmyeon, who just basically told him to go die. 

“You need to breathe, you’re hyperventilating.” Junmyeon says, but his voice is so far away and Chanyeol doesn’t have the energy to even open his eyes, much less control his lungs. Gradually, though his breathing falls into rhythm with the chest pressed into his back, and as Junmyeon takes a deep breath, Chanyeol’s body does the same on autopilot. 

Once he stops coughing and his lungs get a breath of full fresh air into them he starts to fade out, his energy completely gone now. He can hear Junmyeon’s warped voice saying something, but he’s even farther away and Chanyeol feels completely safe left in his arms.

Maybe he shouldn’t, maybe Junmyeon _will_ eventually kill him, but for right now all he can do is put all of his trust into him. He came back for Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol feels like he’s underwater, and slowly but surely he’s regaining his ability to breath again. Seconds later Chanyeol’s body jolts, waking him up from where he’d presumably passed out. 

A hand rests on his chest and pushes him back down, making Chanyeol groan at the pressure and go willingly. It takes him a few moments before his senses come back online, and when they do he groggily opens his eyes, having to blink and rub at them for a few seconds to get his vision back clear.

There, right up against the bed, is Junmyeon wrapped up in blankets sitting on one of the dining chairs. He looks so small, even when he’s watching Chanyeol like a hawk. It takes Chanyeol a few moments to realize Junmyeon has a book now closed in his lap, and that the hand hasn’t left his chest. 

“How long have I been out?” Chanyeol manages to get out, his voice scratchy and cracking in multiple places.

“Two days.” Junmyeon mumbles as if that’s nothing, and this time Chanyeol doesn’t get nearly as far when he jolts to sit up before he’s back down again. “You’ve never told me you can get that bad that quick. I wouldn’t have left you alone if I knew that.”

“I wasn’t going to let you kill someone.” Chanyeol grumbles, scrubbing a hand over his face.

“But you would have let yourself die?” Junmyeon shoots back, his eyes narrowing at Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol is quiet for a few long moments before he lets out a sigh, his eyes closing again. “I couldn’t have gotten to you if I even tried. I didn’t have the energy or breath. He won’t be back here anytime soon, though. We’re fine.” 

“You could have died.”

“We’re fine now.”

 _“You could have_ died _, Chanyeol.”_

Chanyeol blinks back open his eyes at the tone of Junmyeon’s voice suddenly changing, looking over to see the other man more upset than he’s ever seen him. He isn’t upset like Chanyeol’s ever seen, this isn’t anger or frustration. 

“I told you I wasn’t going to let them get to you and they _did.”_ Junmyeon continues, and that makes it click. It’s fear, Junmyeon was scared that he was going to lose Chanyeol. 

“C’mere.” He murmurs, opening the blanket and Junmyeon doesn’t hesitate at all, dropping everything and scrambling under the covers, tucking his body tightly against Chanyeol’s. 

“I failed you because I got mad and selfish.” Junmyeon says in a fragile voice, and Chanyeol gathers him in his arms, holding him tightly against his chest as Junmyeon settles draped on top of him like usual. 

“It’s okay, I understand. You couldn’t have known that was going to happen.” Chanyeol reassures, warming up his hand even though it puts a strain on him staying awake and tucking it underneath Junmyeon’s hoodie.

“You’re not supposed to go outside without me. That’s a rule. You didn’t tell me you were bringing in wood.” Junmyeon grumbles, still clearly upset but the fight slowly bleeds out of him as Chanyeol smooths his hand over Junmyeon’s back. 

“How long have you been awake?” Chanyeol questions, changing the subject, and Junmyeon goes quiet for a few seconds before finally answering him. 

“Two days.” 

Chanyeol’s hand pauses, the meaning behind those two words hitting him full force. Junmyeon hadn’t let himself fall asleep, he stayed up to make sure Chanyeol was okay and to make sure no one else would get to him. 

“Go to sleep.” Chanyeol urges, his hand beginning to move again. “Thank you for bringing me back inside.”

Junmyeon just grunts, bringing a small knowing smile to Chanyeol’s lips. Seems like that’s all the feelings Junmyeon is willing to share right now. 

“I’ll make it up to you sometime.” Chanyeol mumbles, feeling Junmyeon fully melt against him. He keeps his hand heated until he hears Junmyeon softly snoring. It’s adorable. 

Chanyeol falls asleep minutes later, his hand stilling on Junmyeon’s back but never cooling down. 

  
  


The next time Chanyeol wakes up it’s to Junmyeon squirming on top of him. 

The shift of weight is too uncomfortable for Chanyeol and he quickly comes to, angling his hips so that Junmyeon’s hip bone won’t be pressing on his dick anymore. 

“What’s wrong?” Chanyeol rasps, not bothering opening up eyes.

There’s more shifting, and Chanyeol hisses when Junmyeon unintentionally grinds against his crotch. Chanyeol’s hands quickly find Junmyeon’s hips, holding him tight so he won’t keep doing that. 

“I need to pee.” Junmyeon mumbles after a moment, trying to move around again but Chanyeol doesn’t let him. “You won’t let go of me.” 

It takes Chanyeol a few moments to process what he said, but when he does, an amused huff escapes him. “Go on, then.” Chanyeol mumbles, completely letting go of Junmyeon and in seconds Junmyeon is out of bed and quick footsteps are leading to the bathroom, making Chanyeol idly smile.

He manages to doze off again before Junmyeon gets back only to be woken up with the other climbing back into bed. He doesn’t have to fully wake up, just welcomes Junmyeon’s weight back, but when he doesn’t lay back down, opting to sit on Chanyeol’s thighs, that gets the taller’s attention.

Chanyeol cracks his eyes open, immediately noticing it must be the next morning because light is flooding into the room, illuminating Junmyeon’s figure swallowed up in their blankets, the red hair practically glowing in the sunlight.

He’s about to ask what’s going on before Junmyeon’s hands come to rest on his stomach, startling him enough for Junmyeon to speak first. 

“I want a kiss. A proper one.” Junmyeon declares, and Chanyeol’s heart nearly beats out of his chest. 

“Minnie, I told you-”

“I read about it in the books while you were out, I want it. I want _you_ to kiss me.” Junmyeon interrupts him, persistently insisting and it makes Chanyeol’s nerves come online, anxiousness beginning to flow through him. 

“We’re _friends.”_ Chanyeol tries, but he can see Junmyeon getting frustrated above him. 

“I just want to try it, you said you’d teach me everything.” Junmyeon counters, and it’s a dirty move. He knows Chanyeol rarely says no, and by now he knows how to get around it and still get what he wants. 

Chanyeol visibly hesitates, and he knows Junmyeon will prey upon that in a moment if he doesn’t speak first. “You don’t love me, Junmyeon.” 

“I could learn to, but you’re not letting me.” He counters the moment the words leave Chanyeol’s mouth and Chanyeol lets out a frustrated groan, scrubbing a hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up more.

“Okay. Answer yes or no.” He instructs, not beating around the bush this time, he’s too tired to dance around this right now. “Would you flinch again if I kissed your hand?” He asks, and Junmyeon stares him down for what feels like forever before hesitantly nodding. “Then you’re not ready for a proper kiss. Case closed.” 

Junmyeon doesn’t like that at all, and a split second he’s nose to nose with Chanyeol. “I want it.” He protests, making Chanyeol raise an eyebrow at his little tantrum. “What if _I_ kiss _you?_ It’ll be different if I’m the one controlling it.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, knowing full well that it _isn’t_ any different, but he doubts he’s going to give up anytime soon and leave Chanyeol alone about it now that he’s gotten a taste of it. 

“One time. One time and if it doesn’t feel good then I’ll never ask again.” Junmyeon bargains and Chanyeol stares him down, scared to budge on the one thing he’s said no to, but when Junmyeon’s eyes go down to his lips his stance falters. 

“One time?” He echoes hesitantly and immediately Junmyeon’s eyes shoot to his in surprise that he’s won. 

“One time.” Junmyeon agrees, and Chanyeol draws in a deep breath before nodding, letting go of the last control he has between them. 

Chanyeol gently flips their positions, climbing on top of Junmyeon to make this easier for both of them. As always between them, Chanyeol is going to give, and Junmyeon is going to take everything he possibly can. It’s a normal dynamic between them at this point.

“Don’t freak out on me, alright?” Chanyeol warns, licking his lips and Junmyeon’s eyes shoot to the movement, nodding quickly before locking eyes with him again. “Shut your eyes. Remember, you can touch me and I won’t get mad.” He instructs and it’s surprising how quickly Junmyeon follows instructions when he wants something, whereas he’d usually put up at least a little bit of a fight in their normal day to day. 

It goes quiet between them after that, Chanyeol watching Junmyeon to make sure he won’t lash out at Chanyeol suddenly before he moves, passing the point of no return. 

Chanyeol rests a forearm beside his head, using the other to gently take Junmyeon’s jaw and tilt his head to the side. He draws in a deep breath, flickering from his eyes back to his lips for a few moments before he finally gives in.

His lips ghost over the other’s first, just a light brush to test the waters and when Junmyeon doesn’t react negatively to that he reluctantly gives him what he wants. He slots their lips together, hearing more than feeling Junmyeon’s breath hitch. He doesn’t move in the next few seconds, not giving Chanyeol anything to work with to tell what’s going on in his head, so he just presses a few more kisses there before he decides to back off, knowing that was enough for him. 

He barely makes it an inch away before Junmyeon is harshly pulling him back, tangling a hand in the front of his sweater. 

“Again please.” Junmyeon says quietly, his voice betraying how tightly he’s holding Chanyeol to keep him there. 

Chanyeol idly wonders when the other man learned _manners,_ but he leans in again, pressing another slow kiss to Junmyeon’s lips and this time Junmyeon _responds_. 

He’s certainly not the best at it at first, but he’s a shockingly quick learner. Chanyeol draws out his movements, letting Junmyeon adjust before minutes later he’s able to kiss back properly. He’s honestly one of the better kissers Chanyeol has found himself with once he gets the hang of it. He’s like an excited puppy once he realizes he’s doing this right, pressing his lips back against Chanyeol’s for the first time. 

“More.” Junmyeon murmurs against his lips, and Chanyeol is too far in to back out now.

Chanyeol kisses him harder, feeling Junmyeon’s arms wrap around to his back and he knows Junmyeon wouldn’t let him get away even if he wanted to stop. Chanyeol started something the he doesn’t know if he can handle. 

“Open your mouth.” Chanyeol murmurs, hearing Junmyeon let out a confused noise. When Chanyeol parts his lips the next time he licks over Junmyeon’s bottom lip, just barely there, but enough for him to get the idea that the kiss is changing. 

It takes Junmyeon a minute to get used to the feeling of Chanyeol’s tongue suddenly being added, but once he feels comfortable with it he hesitantly begins to part his lips with each movement. Chanyeol eases him into it, not shoving his tongue down the other’s throat. The first time he dips into Junmyeon’s mouth though, a sharp noise echoes from him and Chanyeol abruptly stops, about to pull off, thinking he’s gone too far. 

When Junmyeon doesn’t react further Chanyeol actually does move back just enough to be able to look at him and make sure he’s alright. What he doesn’t expect is to hear some sort of rumble from Junmyeon in protest, nearly a _growl,_ and for a hand to shoot to his hair, tangling close to the roots and roughly pulling him back down. That entire thing should have affected Chanyeol as much as it honestly did, a soft whine being ripped from him when Junmyeon kisses him again much rougher, and there’s more need fueling his actions now than before. 

When Chanyeol flicks his tongue out again, this time Junmyeon meets him halfway. It’s odd at first, just because this is a new part for Junmyeon so he’s hesitant, but once he realizes Chanyeol is letting him do whatever he wants, not so much leading the kiss anymore as just following along wherever it goes, Junmyeon changes. 

It’s like Chanyeol’s mouth is free reign at this point, and Junmyeon is _greedy_. Chanyeol already knew that, but right now it feels like he’s trying to touch everywhere, making sure that there’s a trace of him that Chanyeol can’t exactly get rid of. 

When Junmyeon drags his tongue on the roof of his mouth though, Chanyeol jerks and lets out a groan, his body trembling for a moment at the ticklish feeling shooting through him, and it doesn’t take a split second for Junmyeon to zero in on it.

Chanyeol makes a sound of protest but ] Junmyeon’s hand in his hair tightens again. Chanyeol realizes he’s stuck at the same time that Junmyeon runs over the spot again, making his body tremble for a moment. 

Junmyeon explores his mouth for a few more minutes, shamelessly taking all he wants and leaving Chanyeol to just go along with it, not wanting to severely upset Junmyeon like him trying to get up that one morning did. 

The moment Junmyeon pulls his tongue fully back he’s already speaking again. 

“More.” He demands, pressing another close mouthed kiss to Chanyeol’s lips. 

“That’s all.” Chanyeol manages to get out, knowing fully well where this is going to go if he lets Junmyeon keep pushing. 

_“Chanyeol.”_ Junmyeon practically hisses in frustration, but this is where Chanyeol can’t cross. He won’t stay sane if he gets a taste of Junmyeon beyond this.

“No.” He says sternly, and that just frustrates Junmyeon further, and Chanyeol wonders if he learnt about kissing from the books, and how much he knows about what can come after. 

“You’re a _liar_ _.”_ Junmyeon growls out, nipping at Chanyeol’s bottom lip hard enough to make him jerk back in brief pain. “ _I want more_.”

It’s surprising that it takes up until that moment to realize how deep he’s into this, and how dangerous it was to let Junmyeon lure him into giving him what he wanted. Now, Junmyeon isn’t going to take no for an answer. 

“You're. Not. Getting. It.” Chanyeol grits out, ripping his lips away from Junmyeon, who tries to pull him back, but Chanyeol fights him this time. “You’re lucky I gave you this, don’t be so fucking greedy.” He spits out, his own frustration coming to the surface and covering the part of him that wants to give Junmyeon anything he asks for just to keep seeing him happy. 

Junmyeon goes silent at Chanyeol’s tone, watching him for a long time with that weird, predatory gaze, occasionally glancing down at Chanyeol’s lips which are probably red and slick with spit. 

“I want more.” He insists, but his voice is much smaller this time, like he’s unsure of himself. 

“You aren’t getting more.” Chanyeol responds, not wavering in the slightest, and Junmyeon looks like he’s internally fighting with himself. He's trying to understand what Chanyeol is saying, thankfully. Chanyeol doesn't know what he'd do if Junmyeon went feral on him and wouldn't listen. 

“But I…” He begins but trails off, his eyebrows coming together in the center. “But the books said that you’ll touch me more if I’m good at this.” 

_God dammit, those fucking books teaching Junmyeon things before Chanyeol can._

“Those are all stories, they’re not real life.” Chanyeol says, his voice calming down a bit to not upset Junmyeon further than he has to. “We’re not like them, Junmyeon.”

“But I want you to touch me.” Junmyeon mumbles, and it seems his voice is getting smaller and smaller. “Why can’t we be like them? Is it because of me? Because I don’t know much? I promise I can learn- You-”

“It’s not because of you, Junmyeon. It’s just not something you can immediately get. It takes time for something like that.” Chanyeol tries to explain, and Junmyeon doesn’t look convinced in the slightest. “I’ll still kiss you, but you can’t push for more after that.”

 _That_ seems to brighten Junmyeon up. 

“Okay.” Junmyeon relents after a moment, nodding a few times like he’s still taking in the new rules Chanyeol has made. 

“Now, we have things to do today.” Chanyeol says, giving him a fond smile and getting off of him, hearing multiple sounds of protest from the other.

Chanyeol just fucked up by giving in. He knows that. He’s very much aware of the problem at hand, but he doesn’t know how to fix it just yet.

  
  


Nothing has happened since their scuffle with the other wielder, no one has come to their home, and even though Junmyeon says they’ll be back, Chanyeol won’t keep that in his mind. 

Living with Junmyeon has… been interesting to say the least since Chanyeol taught him how to kiss. It’s almost like living with a little kid who needs a good morning and good night kiss, along with a few through the day depending on what their mood is. Junmyeon has taken comfort in it, just like he now won’t let Chanyeol even sleep on his own side of the bed, wanting to touch Chanyeol in some way to keep warm through the night. He’s not complaining- Well, actually he is, but it’s not that bad. Life could be a thousand times worse than just dealing with a really scary guy who wants Chanyeol’s attention twenty-four-seven.

“Why did he call you Suho?” Chanyeol asks nearly a week later as they’re washing clothes in the river. 

Junmyeon tenses, his entire body going rigid, and Chanyeol realizes he’s hit a sensitive topic moments too late. “That’s what everyone called me. Or test subject number one. Hearing the two, Suho sounds a lot better, doesn’t it?” He says in a flat voice, his back still turned to Chanyeol so he can’t tell what’s going through Junmyeon’s mind even though he’s gotten exceptionally good at reading the other man. 

“Why were you number one? Wasn’t there a bunch of other people?” He asks, shaking off water from his hands out of habit, looking like a cat that’s gotten wet and is trying to get it all off. 

“I was their first. I was the first that they could contain and control.” Junmyeon responds like it’s nothing, and that nearly does Chanyeol’s heart in.

He tosses the sweatshirt to the shore, stumbling through the water and trying not to lose his footing on the slippery rocks. Junmyeon makes a surprised sound as Chanyeol basically plasters himself to the smaller, wrapping his arms around Junmyeon’s torso. 

“I’m so sorry, Minnie.” He murmurs, tucking his face into Junmyeon’s neck.

Junmyeon grunts and turns in his hold, making a face at Chanyeol. “What are you going on about? I’m fine.” Junmyeon grumbles, squirming a bit in Chanyeol’s hold, but Chanyeol knows better by now when Junmyeon actually wants to be let go and when he’s faking it.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what you went through. You were there your whole life just as their project when you’re a human being. You never got to be more than your powers until you met me.” Chanyeol mumbles against his skin, feeling his heart physically begin to thrum with a dull ache. 

Junmyeon tenses when Chanyeol speaks, going completely rigid in his hold before shaky hands come up to his bare back, needily gripping him as if to ground himself. “It’s fine, I don’t remember most of it.” Junmyeon tries to reassure him, but it sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself of it. 

Chanyeol gently guides him to the riverbed, sitting down and letting Junmyeon plaster himself against him, and Chanyeol guesses that this would be where Junmyeon feels the most comfortable and at home. He has Chanyeol here, who’s already warming up his body for Junmyeon, and they’re surrounded in the flowing water in the river. 

“I wish I could make all those years it up to you.” Chanyeol murmurs at the same time Junmyeon tucks his face into Chanyeol’s neck, holding onto him tightly. Junmyeon has never fully opened up to him about the compound or what happened even at the riots, only giving him small things here and there and refusing to elaborate on it. 

“You are. You’re making up for it. I was… I expected to be killed once I got out by someone but then you came along and your dumb ass dropped those buckets.” Junmyeon admits, and that lights up Chanyeol’s body, his heat spiking up a bit more unconsciously. “I never got to feel even a few of the things you’ve made me feel a month in.” He murmurs, shifting a bit so he’s straddling Chanyeol’s lap, letting the foot of water run over his lower legs. 

“I…” He stumbles out, not really expecting Junmyeon to say anything like that because he’s never done it before. “Well, you’ve kept me safe so far, so I’d call it even.” He reasons, pressing a comforting kiss to Junmyeon’s temple.

“You’re the first friend I’ve had, I can’t let you die.” Junmyeon grumbles as if it’s obvious, and Chanyeol stays quiet, not letting himself speak in case he accidentally implies that they’re _not_ just friends, because well, they’re not. Friends don’t do what they do, and Chanyeol would know, because he thinks he’s actually fully falling for the other man. 

Chanyeol says still for a long time, until the sky starts to bloom into oranges and pinks, telling him that the sun is about to disappear on them.

It’s… grueling for Chanyeol to stay like this, to say the least. The water is up to the middle of his stomach, his legs completely submerged in the river. He doesn’t think Junmyeon realizes it, but his skin is crawling every ten seconds, wanting nothing but to get out of the water and get dry, his mind screaming at him that he can’t make fire on half of his body. He’s more than aware he’s completely weak right now, but Junmyeon needs the comfort, and Chanyeol is doing what he always has for him.

“We need to go home soon, ‘Minnie.” Chanyeol says quietly, and when Junmyeon pulls back, looking at Chanyeol too innocently that it plucks on his nerves. “It’s… It’s getting dark.” He stumbles through his words, and when Junmyeon pouts- he fucking _pouts,_ Chanyeol breaks.

For the first time Chanyeol initiates a kiss, not knowing what exactly broke him, but Junmyeon’s lips feel like heaven against his. Junmyeon doesn’t hesitate, kissing back without thought and Chanyeol takes everything without a second thought, not at all passive this time. 

He just _wants,_ and Junmyeon seems content with giving that to Chanyeol right now. 

His brain fizzes out somewhere along the way, spacing him out until he hears Junmyeon groan against his mouth, snapping him out of his daze.

Chanyeol rips himself away from Junmyeon abruptly, his eyes flying open in fear of letting himself go that far without thinking at all. 

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to!” Chanyeol blurts out, terrified that he took advantage of Junmyeon or that he at least made him uncomfortable. “Fuck I’m so sorry, are you okay?” He continues, only realizing Junmyeon is watching him with amusement the whole time. 

“You’re okay, I liked it. You’re allowed to want things.” Junmyeon reassures, and it sounds too familiar. He’s telling Chanyeol what Chanyeol has told him countless times, and it feeds odd being on the receiving end. 

“I should have asked, I’m sorry.” Chanyeol sighs, a frown pulling on his lips at how easily Junmyeon is letting him off with this. “Let’s get going Minnie, we still need to dry off before bed.” He mumbles, tapping Junmyeon’s thigh, and eventually Junmyeon gets up a bit clumsily, Chanyeol following him up and they both stumble over to the shore, grabbing the basket of clothes to head home. 

They make the walk home just in briefs and only Chanyeol wearing shoes, both having a big woven basket in their arms as they chat away about little things, making conversation the best they can. 

They’re entering the backyard, Chanyeol cackling at something Junmyeon had said before they both spooked, a bat- a _giant fucking bat_ the size of a dog landing directly in front of them and staring the down, preventing them from continuing on inside the house. 

Junmyeon only startles and jumps a bit in surprise, but Chanyeol, closest to the thing, yelps and loses his footing, falling back on his ass but managing to save the basket from tipping over fully.

He’s about to scramble farther away because _what the fuck is that thing- it’s coming closer!!!_

Chanyeol breaks out of his panic when Suho takes a step forward, a startled expression on his face. 

“Yifan?” Junmyeon asks in a small voice and Chanyeol feels lightheaded as the moment the name leaves Junmyeon’s lips the bat is moving, further terrifying Chanyeol but in seconds there’s a man standing up from where the animal once was.

He can hear Junmyeon mutter something along the lines of ‘oh my god’ before he’s nearly leaping into the other man’s arms, the stranger startling before happily returning the embrace. 

It only takes a few seconds before Junmyeon is pulling back, smiling brightly at the man in front of him and Chanyeol feels all the bad emotions rush in at once. Junmyeon said he never got to know any of the others, and from the familiarity between the two, Junmyeon lied to him. 

“I’ll… Let you two catch up.” He mumbles, seeming Junmyeon’s eyes snap back to him, seemingly confused as to why he’s leaving, but Chanyeol is getting up and quickly moving inside the house. 

Jealousy. That’s the main emotion pumping through his veins and he doesn’t want for it to show. Junmyeon doesn’t have to tell him anything, but the least he can do for Chanyeol is not to lie to him. 

Only when it’s completely pitch black outside does Junmyeon come inside, padding over to Chanyeol who’s resting on the couch taking small bites of a strip of meat. 

“Chanyeol..?” He calls and it takes Chanyeol a moment to look up at him from where he’s reading a book from the huge bookcase.”Can Yifan stay the night? It’s dangerous for him to fly back right now with drones patrolling.”

Chanyeol’s heart crunches. 

“I don’t mind.” He murmurs, looking back to his book. “I’ll sleep out here, you two can have the bed.” 

“What?” Junmyeon says, his voice turning soft with pure confusion. “No, _we_ sleep together, we’ve always slept together. Why would you-”

“I’m sleeping out here, Junmyeon. He’s the guest in the house so just go ahead and get to sleep, you must be tired from this evening.” Chanyeol says evenly, even though his voice is eerily blank now, Chanyeol doesn’t have the energy right now to fake a cheery tone. 

“Chanyeol I can’t sleep without you-” 

“Yes you can. I’m only body heat, remember? He’ll warm you up like I do.” Chanyeol states more so for himself to remind himself where he actually stands with Junmyeon. He keeps forgetting that they’re _not_ close enough to be romantically involved, Junmyeon keeps making him forget that and this is what Chanyeol gets for letting it happen.

Chanyeol feels itchy all over letting another person into their home, he hates it. 

Junmyeon goes quiet after that, rooted in the spot before Chanyeol can hear him turning and walking back to the back door, unlocking it and redoing the lock before two pairs of footsteps head through the hallways to the bedroom. 

Only when he doesn’t hear any more movement in the house does he let the cracks begin to show, dropping the food back into it’s bag in his backpack.

_He’s going to kill you too._

_It’s only a matter of time._

_I’ll be seeing your body rotting on the forest floor instead._

Chanyeol tugs on clothes, needing for that stupid voice to be gone, and moving around is the only way he knows how to do it.

He slips out a window minutes later, closing it and making sure it’s sealed before taking a deep breath, knowing where he’s heading tonight and slipping the backpack onto his shoulders before setting off. 

After what feels like an hour of walking and taking paths that won’t expose him to anyone, Chanyeol makes it to where he’d wanted to, an old farm that doesn’t have many trees around it for at least a mile, letting the stars pop against the sky. 

He knows he shouldn’t be here. It’s stupid to be upset over something like this when Junmyeon owes him _nothing_ at all, but… his feelings got involved and it seems that he’s the only one who took the blow. 

Chanyeol drops his bag in the center of a field, plopping down on his back beside it.

 _Maybe it’s best not to go back, maybe Junmyeon is better with someone he knows from the compound. Chanyeol can’t protect him, it’s only been Junmyeon doing things to save him since they’ve met, so maybe… Maybe Yifan or whoever could take care of Junmyeon so that he wouldn’t have to constantly worry over someone like Chanyeol, who knows nearly_ nothing _about what’s out here._

_Maybe that’s the best choice._

_The thing is, Chanyeol is selfish. He knows he is, but it’s come to be Junmyeon that’s the one thing he’s possessive over. Junmyeon has no idea about that, not from what Chanyeol can tell. He’s selfish and possessive and jealous and doesn’t want someone to take Junmyeon away from him, but the good part of him is telling him to let him go if he has to. He’s good to Junmyeon, always giving and giving and today, he’s paying the price for taking. One little slip up, one kiss, and whatever fate is doing might be taking Junmyeon away from him._

_Junmyeon_ _doesn’t_ _need him._

 _But_ Chanyeol _desperately needs Junmyeon._

  
  


Chanyeol doesn’t sleep, instead he just watches the stars, taking in the view he doesn’t have back at home.

When the first sign of sunlight breaks into the sky Chanyeol pulls himself up, the guilt that grew overnight becoming too much for him, not letting him leave Junmyeon like this. The one time his conscience catches up to him and it has to be over _this._

The walk back is much shorter with light slowly beginning to fill the sky, even though Chanyeol still does have to spark a flame to see exactly where he’s going. Chanyeol stops a few times when he comes across Mulberry trees, picking handfuls to bring back to Junmyeon because Chanyeol’s best guess is he’s never had anything close to fresh berries before. The sun is halfway peeking over the horizon, changing the sky’s colors into vibrant pinks and blues by the time he makes it home, top of his backpack full of the fruit. 

The house is eerily quiet when he unlocks the back door, stepping inside and bolting it shut again. Chanyeol goes into the kitchen, checking and locking the window he’d left out of before walking deeper into the house. 

When he hears nothing, no movement, no creaking, no signs of life, fear shoots through Chanyeol that he’s too late and his fears may have come to life. That Junmyeon left this morning with the guy from the compound. 

After peeking his head inside scanning the living room he quickly moves to the bedroom, begging in his head that Junmyeon is at least safe and not hurt or worse, dead. 

Chanyeol stops in his tracks in the doorway of the room, his eyes landing on a shivering figure under the blankets. Just one, the man must have left Junmyeon in the house alone.

The floorboards creak under his feet as he walks up to the side of the bed, but the person under the blankets never takes note of the new noise, completely seemingly wrapped up in their own world. 

“Minnie..?” Chanyeol tries, sitting down on the side of the bed, and his voice seems to get the man’s attention, but not in a good way as the shaking becomes worse. 

“Go away! You’re not real!” He can hear Junmyeon hiss out, and his voice is wet and stuffy, making Chanyeol’s fears and pulse skyrocket. 

“I am real Junmyeon, come out. I promise I’m right here.” Chanyeol urges, but Junmyeon isn’t budging. Chanyeol slowly takes off his backpack, reaching a hand instinctively to the edge of the blankets before quickly retreating when Junmyeon jerks.

There’s a coughing fit from under the blankets and it takes everything in Chanyeol not to reach out again and rip the covers off of the man to make sure he can breathe. He doesn’t know what’s going on enough to make those decisions. “Chanyeol’s gone! Stop trying to lure me out! Get out of my head!” Junmyeon nearly screams, and that’s when it hits Chanyeol how bad Junmyeon has gotten without him here. He’s relapsing and doesn’t know what’s real or not. 

“Minnie I’m going to pull back the covers, okay? Don’t attack me.” Chanyeol states, his voice wavering a bit in fear that he’s too late, that Junmyeon is too far gone and will go for the kill, not believing he’s the real Chanyeol. 

He’s right.

The moment red hair comes into sight Junmyeon is tackling him to the floor, pinning him down with painful strength, one hand holding both of Chanyeol’s and one pressing hard against Chanyeol’s neck. 

Junmyeon is looking down at him, tears in his eyes, clearly not all there because he’s sneering at Chanyeol like he’s the enemy. “Stop. Using. His. Voice.” Junmyeon grits out through his teeth, his glassy eyes not focusing at all, but are somewhere on Chanyeol’s face. 

“Minnie, it’s me, I promise. I came back.” Chanyeol manages to get out, his voice weak due to the hand beginning to put dangerous pressure on his throat. 

“You’re not taking me back, I’m not going back.” Junmyeon snaps, and Chanyeol’s heart drops when he begins to feel a trickle of water start down the back of his throat. 

_He’s going to die._

“Please, come back Junmyeon.” He says wetly, a tiny bit of water going down the wrong way and sending him into a coughing fit restricting his breathing dangerously.

“Stop it! Chanyeol’s gone! I’m not stupid!” Junmyeon yells, and Chanyeol can feel tears quickly well up in his own eyes, knowing he’s not getting out of this without risking killing Junmyeon with the heat, and he won’t do that. Not when he’s-

“I love you.” He grits out, his voice uneven and in the middle of the sentence the water multiplies, and Chanyeol begins to get trickles going down no matter what he does. “I’m sorry I left. I love you, ‘Minnie.” He manages to get out, talking making it so much worse, but that’s his only hope to get through to him. It only takes seconds before he can’t fight off the flow anymore and it begins to get in his lungs, his body taking full control of his throat and closing it off, not letting anything enter or leave, neither air or water. 

It only takes a few seconds before his body begins to go lax. 

His hearing goes first, then his feeling of touch, and then lastly, Chanyeol's last sight is Junmyeon’s face twisted in horror. 

He doesn’t have the energy to fight it off, and he goes under, his eyes slipping closed for what he guesses is the last time. 

His last thought is that he hopes Junmyeon will be okay without him.

  
  


It feels like he’s wavering. He can register that there’s something going on with his body, but he can’t feel literally any of it, only can really register pressure on his chest. 

And then, he’s surging back, eyes flying open and his body jerks, his heart beating rapidly. Before he knows it he’s being tilted to the side, and Chanyeol begins coughing, someone holding his mouth open for the water to drain out of his body. He can’t see anything, just blurry figures and the fact that someone has a bright overhead light on, but he can’t focus on anything except that he’s alive.

“Ju-” Chanyeol tries, but just ends up being thrown into a coughing fit, his body convulsing weakly. “Minnie.” He whispers weakly, needing to know where Junmyeon is, if he’s okay. 

“Hey, calm down, we’re going to help you, you’re okay.” A light voice comes but it still sounds too far away, and now that his lungs are online again, his body is giving out, that surge of energy being all that he had in him right now. “We need you to relax for us, you’re safe.” 

Chanyeol doesn’t get a chance to protest before he slips back under due to the overwhelming exhaustion weighing him down.

The next time he comes to he’s not jerking around or gasping, it comes slowly, like being eased out of a dark room. 

He tries to open his eyes, but the lights, even though dimmer than he thinks he remembers, hurt. It takes him a few seconds to open them again, his vision a little bit better, and as he blinks and rubs at them with his hand, they get better enough for him to make out someone sitting next to the bed he’s propped up in. 

“Junmyeon…” He breathes out, even though when he turns his head weakly to stare at the man, that’s definitely not someone he knows or has ever seen in his life before. “Is he okay?” He asks, even though there are so many different things he wants to ask following that like _is he safe here too? Where am I? Who are you? Where is Junmyeon?_

The man lets out a puff of breath, grinning at Chanyeol with a glint in his eyes that he can’t put his finger on right now. “He’s safe. I’m a friend of his.” The man says, and Chanyeol realizes from the voice that this is the same person who was talking to him before. “My name is Yixing, you’re Chanyeol, right?”

He weakly nods at that, his brain putting two and two together before it hits him. “You’re from the compound. You’re not going to hurt him, right?” He rushes out as quickly as he can in his state, moving to prop himself up, but the other man is pressing him back down not even a second later, suddenly standing. “Please don’t hurt him.” He tries weakly, staring up at the man when he really has no idea what the other’s intentions are. 

“You’d be dead if I wasn’t friends with him, I can assure you of that. He’s with Yifan right now-” He informs Chanyeol, and instantly his body tenses at the mention of the other man that had made Chanyeol go away that night. “Oh? You’re not as innocent as you’ve made him believe, are you?” The other taunts playfully, and Chanyeol isn’t in the right mood or mindset to joke around. 

“Can I see him? Can you-”

“He doesn’t want to see you.” Yixing states ruthlessly, and that’s the last hit that it takes for Chanyeol to completely shatter, tears immediately welling up in his eyes. He’s already rapidly moving away from the man to the other side of the bed, turning away before the other manages to speak again. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have worded it like that. He’s scared to see you-”

“It’s okay.” Chanyeol interrupts in a small voice, pulling the blankets up to his eyes. “It was a stupid question, I know.” He adds, bringing up a hand to wipe at the tears rapidly flowing from his eyes.

“I’ll tell him you’re awake for you, but I can’t promise he’ll come visit.” Yixing says, his voice much softer and gentle, and when Chanyeol doesn’t respond he hears a sigh before footsteps lead away from him and a door to the room quietly opens and shuts, leaving him alone. 

_Chanyeol feels like an idiot. Why would Junmyeon want to see him anyways when he left him that night? That’s not something he can expect Junmyeon to forgive him for, he shouldn’t have done it and risked everything._

_He’s alive, technically, but he feels like a huge part of him died along the way._

_Junmyeon doesn’t want to see him._

He doesn’t know when he falls asleep again, but he does, curled up against the wall farthest away from the door. 

“-yeol? Wake up.” 

He’s pulled from his sleep abruptly, shooting to sit up, but he falls right back down when he sees that it’s just Yixing. 

“You need to eat, I brought you something. You should have your strength back in a few days, and then you may do whatever you want.” He hears Yixing say, but Chanyeol just wraps the blankets tighter around himself. “Fine, I’m setting this on the nightstand, next time I come in here it better be gone.” Yixing huffs and Chanyeol hears a wooden plate connect with the nightstand, and then a glass of water, Chanyeol guesses. 

The footsteps fade away, but before he gets to the door, Chanyeol speaks up. 

“Did he say anything when you told him?” He asks weakly, feeling bad that Yixing has to get tangled up in the middle of whatever’s going on between him and Junmyeon.

“No, he didn’t. I’m sorry.” Yixing answers, and this time, he sounds genuinely sympathetic. 

“It’s okay, I expected that.” He reassures, making himself as small as possible, and he hears Yixing sigh, waiting for a minute oddly before the door opens and closes just like last time. 

Chanyeol decides he doesn’t deserve to eat.

He doesn’t move from his spot. 

“You’ve let your food get cold, you’re still eating it regardless.” Is what snaps him out of where he was dozing off, feeling the other side of the bed dip. “Your appetite should be back, what’s wrong?” 

Chanyeol stays silent, because what is he supposed to tell him? I got jealous of the guy I met and then he tried to kill me, and I ended up telling him I love him before I went under? No.

“He’s upset too, you know. He doesn’t not care about you.” Yixing says with a small huff, shifting his full weight onto the bed and when Chanyeol peeks out of the covers he’s sitting cross legged, staring straight at Chanyeol. 

“I’m in love with him.” He reveals weakly, that that makes Yixing’s eyebrows shoot up. 

“With Junmyeon? Our Suho?” Yixing dramatically asks, and when Chanyeol hesitantly nods, he wastes no time before interrogating further. “He won’t tell us anything about you! Yifan keeps trying to crack him but he’s way too stubborn for his own good.”

That makes a small, weak but still there smile creep onto his lips.

“You’ve lived with him for a few months, right? You still like him even though he snores like a freight train?” Yixing questions, holding Chanyeol’s eyes and for the first time he realizes Yixing’s eyes have scars at the edges of them.

“He doesn’t snore that loud, it’s cute. He’s like a cat.” Chanyeol refutes, and that draws out a loud laugh from Yixing, and he seems to have gotten what he wanted out of Chanyeol that easily. 

“So you two slept together! What’s your power? I can feel it in you, but I can’t detect which one.” 

Chanyeol groans at the fact that he just gave that away so quickly. “I uh.. I’m a fire wielder..?” He says, unsure if he should actually say it, but then Yixing is intensely closer, leaning over him and staring him down with a crazed glint in his eyes, curiosity overflowing. _He regrets it, he shouldn’t have said it._

“Fire. You said fire, right?” He questions, and Chanyeol freezes up, looking up at him with alarmed wide eyes. “You can’t take it back now, I wanna see it. Can you burn yourself? What happens to your clothes? Do they catch on fire? Do-”

“Get away from him, Lay.” Someone grits out, and both men on the bed freeze and tense up for completely different reasons. 

“Oh, we’re using official names now Suho?” Yixing taunts, still staring at Chanyeol who doesn’t know who to be more scared of. “He’s not yours-”

“He _is.”_ Junmyeon hisses out, and the sound of shoes walking closer echoes in the small, empty bedroom. “I told you not to touch him! He looks pretty awake right now, you want to explain why you were lying to me?” 

A knowing smile takes its place on Yixing’s lips and the other rolls his eyes as he sits up. “I wanted to see what he was like.” He says like it’s nothing, and Chanyeol can finally breathe without the other over him. “It was just a little white lie, Yifan knew he was awake too.” 

_“Leave.”_ Junmyeon grits out, and Yixing isn’t too affected, getting up and padding towards the door with a small puff of a laugh. 

“Don’t try anything, Junmyeon. We’re the only allies you have.” He hears Yixing say just before the door shuts and someone sits down on the bed. 

It’s quiet for a while between them, Chanyeol finally speaking up after what must be a few minutes of neither of them knowing what to say. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, finally looking at Junmyeon, finding him already staring down Chanyeol and the other’s blank expression quickly turns into surprise.

“What..?” Junmyeon mutters, very visibly confused, and a small, fond smile creeps onto Chanyeol’s lips without fail. 

“Are you alright, ‘Minnie?” Chanyeol rephrases it a bit, looking at him expectantly and Junmyeon goes silent for a few long seconds, seemingly not knowing what to say.

“I drowned you, why are you asking if I’m okay?” Junmyeon questions, unsettled by Chanyeol’s question and it makes Chanyeol’s brighter mood damper a bit his confidence wavering drastically. 

“He said you didn’t want to see me, so you won’t hurt my feelings if you leave. I don’t want to force you to stay just because you had to stop that situation.” Chanyeol mutters, his voice drawing back a bit, rapidly becoming self-conscious when Junmyeon didn’t meet his energy like he usually would. 

“He told me you were still knocked out and it was best not to disturb you.” Junmyeon counters, his eyebrows drawing together in the middle. 

“I’ve… I’ve been awake for two days.” Chanyeol informs him, and Junmyeon’s face twitches, the glowing marks briefly lighting up before it’s gone. “But seriously, if you don’t want to see me it’s fine-”

“I can’t begin to tell you how much I’ve wanted to barge past those two and see you.” Junmyeon states, moving to fully sit on the bed, bringing his legs up and it stuns Chanyeol enough to make him speechless. 

“I thought you were still mad at me.” Chanyeol says quietly, and confusion completely visibly overwhelms Junmyeon. 

“Chanyeol- _I_ should be the one asking if you are okay, I nearly _killed you-”_

“It’s okay.” Chanyeol shuts him down, shifting a bit to stretch out his legs under the blankets. “It was my fault. I left in the first place for a stupid reason and I shouldn’t have engaged you until you were more calm.” He justifies, and pain flashes across Junmyeon’s face. 

“Chanyeol _I nearly drowned you.”_ Junmyeon repeats like Chanyeol already doesn’t know that, and Chanyeol pauses before slowly nodding, looking at Junmyeon questioningly. 

“I know that. It’s not your fault, you weren’t fully aware of what was going on.” Chanyeol reassures, and he can see Junmyeon wavering, old habits wanting to kick in but he’s completely resisting them. 

Chanyeol watches him closely for a second before he moves his arms, holding open the blanket and Junmyeon looks at him alarmed at the offer. “My arms are getting tired, hurry up if you’re coming.” He urges, and Junmyeon doesn’t need any more than that to quickly move and scramble to get under the blankets with Chanyeol. 

Junmyeon settles in and pulls at Chanyeol until the taller is draped over him in the same way that he usually is over Chanyeol when they go to sleep. Chanyeol goes willingly, letting out a content hum when Junmyeon wraps his around Chanyeol’s middle and resting his cheek against the other’s shoulder.

“I was so scared, I didn’t know what to do so I brought you here.” Junmyeon murmurs, and Chanyeol knows Junmyeon is on the verge of breaking down, he can hear the wetness in his voice. “I… I was going to lose you because I lost control.” He says, and when his voice fully wavers Chanyeol props himself up no matter how his muscles protest to look at Junmyeon, who has tears beginning to overflow. 

“No, don’t cry, I don’t want to be the reason you’re crying again.” Chanyeol says softly, shifting his weight so he can bring a hand up and wipe at Junmyeon’s eyes with his thumb. 

“You told me you loved me when you were on the verge of dy-dying to my hands.” Junmyeon says, his voice fully cracking as a dry sob passes through his body. The grip around Chanyeol gets tight enough to make his still sensitive ribs ache, but he endures it. “Your last words were I love you while mine were that you weren’t real and that you were already gone.” 

“It’s okay, I’m not holding any of that against you. You were scared.” Chanyeol reassures, giving Junmyeon a soft smile. 

“You love me.” Junmyeon speaks through the leaky tears, and that makes Chanyeol pause in surprise. 

“Yeah, I’m in love with you.” Chanyeol agrees, and that makes Junmyeon look up at him with wide, unsure eyes.

“Isn’t that where you _really_ like me? Yifan told me it’s when you really like me and want to be boyfriends.”

_Fucking Yifan._

“Yeah, I like you like that.” Chanyeol confirms hesitantly. 

“Like in the books.” 

“Yes, like in the books.” 

“More than kisses?”

“More than kisses.”

“I think I love you too.” Junmyeon says without hesitating, and it startles Chanyeol enough to send him coughing again. 

It takes a little bit for him to calm down, but when he does, he’s looking down at Junmyeon, who’s stopped crying in that time, in complete shock. 

“That’s a lot to put on the line, Junmyeon. That means you want everything, you want to spend the rest of your life with me.” He explains, and Junmyeon is watching him closely, completely taking in what he’s saying.

“I want that. I want anything you can give me. I’ve wanted that since the run in with Xiumin.” Junmyeon agrees, but Chanyeol can still see him hesitate the slightest bit, it all still new to him talking about feelings thin in depth. “I tried kissing Yifan that night. He was okay with it, we’re not like you and me, we’re just… friends I guess.” He says, and Chanyeol can’t hide the way his jaw clenches, and he tenses up, jealousy bubbling inside of him all over again at the fact that Yifan has _kissed_ Junmyeon. “I didn’t feel anything like I did with you. You make it feel… like my stomach is jumping around enough to almost make me puke, but like, in a _good_ way.”

That earns a laugh out of Chanyeol, surprised at how Junmyeon described what most people would say is butterflies. “We can… We can try it, and if it doesn’t work or if you decide it’s too much, we stop and go back to friends.” 

“Really? We can just do that?” Junmyeon asks, his eyes widening, and an amused, toothy smile pulls on Chanyeol’s lips. 

“It’s not that different at first, you already demand kisses whenever you want.” Chanyeol counters, making Junmyeon squawk in offence and scramble to deny that, trying to say that he totally doesn’t fake being uncomfortable to get kisses and hugs out of Chanyeol. He just let’s out soft ‘mhm?’s at every excuse, settling back down and tucking his face into Junmyeon’s neck happily. 

“You should go to sleep, you still need to recover.” Junmyeon insists, patting his back once and making Chanyeol giggle, because that’s the most ‘bro’ thing Junmyeon has done to date. 

“You sleep too. I bet you haven’t slept without me in the same bed, have you?” Chanyeol counters, and he hears countless excuses come up again, making him laugh just like the last did. “Really though, get some sleep, I’ll probably be well enough to walk around and take care of myself tomorrow.” 

Junmyeon grumbles about Chanyeol ordering him around, but he does get comfortable, muttering a quiet ‘good night’ to Chanyeol, who grins brightly, already beginning to doze off. 

Once Chanyeol is up and moving enough to come out of the room he quickly finds out what Yifan and Yixing are actually like. 

Yifan isn’t horrible, he just likes to float around, he has a habit to pick up Yixing and suddenly drag him backwards to scare him, but that’s about it. It’s just small pranks like that, and never to Junmyeon or Chanyeol. 

Yixing on the other hand, he’s a handful. He likes to mess with Junmyeon, lying straight through his teeth with little things. But with Chanyeol, _holy shit._ Chanyeol is just fresh meat for him, and once he’s healthy enough to come out of the room, Yixing deems him fair game. 

It freaks Chanyeol out at first, not used to someone teasing and occasionally grabbing him, but after a while it becomes entertaining with how Junmyeon tends to fight Yixing off. If he’s around when it happens it’s like all out war has broken loose, Junmyeon getting extremely possessive and swatting Yixing’s hands away the hardest he can without hurting him too bad. The two bicker almost constantly about _anything,_ Yixing is way too good at riling Junmyeon up, and it always ends up with Chanyeol comforting a sulky and grumpy Junmyeon. 

“I bet you’re amazing in bed, you’ve got huge hands and you know what that means-”

 _“Lay!”_ Junmyeon grits out, glaring Yixing down like he’s trying to kill him through that. 

Chanyeol suppresses a laugh, but a soft snicker still escapes him and that all eggs Yixing on. 

“What? Have you _not_ seen your boyfriend? I’d get fucked by him any-” Yixing begins before cutting himself off with a squeak as soon as he sees Junmyeon lunging for him, Yixing taking off out the door and through the halls with a very agitated Junmyeon on his heels. 

“I’ve never seen him like this you know” A voice pipes up from his left, making Chanyeol jump, forgetting Yifan was in the same room. “He’s… really happy around you. He’s completely different from the Suho I knew back in the compound, you’re good for him.” He says, and Chanyeol shrugs a tiny bit, his cheeks heating up. 

“I didn’t do anything, I just gave him a safe space.” Chanyeol murmurs, avoiding Yifan’s eyes and listening to the play fighting and chasing going on. 

“He’s never been safe before, so you should realize how much that means to him.” Yifan speaks easily, and it makes Chanyeol’s heart skip a beat.

“Can I… ask you about something?” He asks tentatively, finally looking over and seeing Yifan staring him down already. 

“Ask away. If I don’t want to answer I won’t.” He replies, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his thighs. 

“Is there a man with like… _ice_ that Junmyeon knows? We ran into him a while ago and they seemed to have bad blood between them.” 

“Xiumin. He’s an ice wielder.” Yifan says easily, leaning back in the chair and staring at Chanyeol with glints of curiosity entering his eyes. “You said ran into, not fought. Junmyeon would have killed him on sight.” 

“Well, I um… I stopped him?” Chanyeol answers, but it comes out more as a question. 

“Did he have the, you know, markings on his body?” He asks, tilting his head and his expression changing to one that Chanyeol hasn’t seen on him before. Chanyeol hesitantly nods. “First you survive Junmyeon going berserk, and now you’re telling me _you_ stopped him from killing? Who the hell are you and how pure is your bloodline of power to do this shit?” Yifan rambles, and that shocks Chanyeol into silence for a while, the two just staring at each other for a bit before Chanyeol regains his voice. 

“I could have killed him and saved myself easily when he was drowning me. I won’t hurt him.” Chanyeol murmurs, standing up as soon as he hears a yelp and water cascading to the floor, indicating Junmyeon has caught Yixing and drenched him. “I’m… not a threat to you guys. I promise. As long as Junmyeon likes you, I do too.” He says as he’s exiting the room, seeing the hallway wet as ever and a few feet away from the door (Junmyeon must have ran the other all the way around the building) Yixing is in a playful headlock with Junmyeon ruffling his hair. 

“Minnie, it’s fine, you got him.” Chanyeol urges, and Junmyeon reluctantly lets the other man go, grumbling under his breath and shuffling over to Chanyeol all the while still glaring at Yixing. “We’re heading home today, right?” He asks, draping an arm around Junmyeon’s shoulder and grinning fondly when Junmyeon immediately takes up that space and tucks himself against Chanyeol’s side. 

Junmyeon nods, an arm snaking around Chanyeol’s waist protectively, even though they both know well enough that Yixing is harmless, the man can fight as well as a regular person, but not near Junmyeon or Yifan’s level. 

“You can’t stay away again for a long time, I want to see you guys pretty often.” Yixing states, walking towards the door to the living room. “Either you come back and see us or we’ll drop by whenever we want. Yifan knows where you guys are, remember that.” Yixing says, giving them a mischievous grin before ducking back into the room before seconds later loud cursing echoes through the house, and Chanyeol’s best guess is Yixing just grabbed Yifan to get him wet too.

It feels like Chanyeol’s gotten accepted into their little family. 

  
  


When they do get home, Junmyeon is still fretting over Chanyeol moving around too much by himself or standing up suddenly. It’s been nearly a week since the incident, and Chanyeol feels fine now, his strength is back and nothing, not even his lungs, ache anymore.

Chanyeol walks away from Junmyeon, who’s locking up the door again to go grab his backpack first thing. The berries are probably still in there, and they’ve definitely gone bad in the time they’ve been away. 

“Going outside to dump my bag.” Chanyeol calls, seeing Junmyeon looking over the living room and checking the windows to make sure no one broke in. 

“What? Wait- Hey! Wait, I have to go with you!” Junmyeon fusses, jogging over to Chanyeol where he’s just starting to unlock the door. “Why are you dumping your bag? Is something wrong?”

Chanyeol playfully rolls his eyes, opening the old door and walking out, bag in hand. “Everything is fine, just some food has probably gone bad.” Chanyeol reassures, hearing Junmyeon shut the door and quickly trail after him, joining him on his way to the edge of the woods behind the house.

“What are those?” Junmyeon immediately asks, looking at the berries Chanyeol is pulling out over his shoulder. 

“Mulberries. They only last like three or so days in a container, so I’m just gonna throw ‘em.” He explains, grabbing a handful of the berries and tossing them into the woods. 

“Mulberries?” Junmyeon repeats, watching his every move that Chanyeol makes curiously. 

“Mhm, I got them that morning for you to try.” Chanyeol says without much thought, and only when Junmyeon stops him moving by a hand lightly resting on his arm. 

“You got them for me?” He asks softly, looking at Chanyeol with surprise, and over the week Chanyeol has forgotten how much being taken care of and given things affects Junmyeon.

“Yeah, I did.” He confirms, sending Junmyeon a reassuring smile before rifling through the bottom of his bag, grabbing the last few he’s missed before zipping it back up. “If you’d like, I can take you to get some more with me..?” 

Junmyeon’s eyes widen as soon as Chanyeol offers that, nodding rapidly and moving away. “I’ll lock the door and then we can go!” Junmyeon calls excitedly, drawing a soft laugh out of Chanyeol.

It feels like they’re back to normal, but just… way better and way more relaxed and free. 

When Junmyeon takes a bite of the berries for the first time he _moans._

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows in surprise, hand hovering in the air, fingers already stained from picking the same amount of berries that he’d done before for them. 

Junmyeon’s eyes are wide in wonder, and that confirms that Junmyeon hasn’t ever had fresh berries.

“They’re so good!” Junmyeon exclaims, opening his mouth in a silent request for Chanyeol to feed him more, and it makes Chanyeol’s cheeks heat up without fail.

“I’m glad you like them, I grew up picking and eating them as a kid.” Chanyeol murmurs, reaching up and picking more of the fruit to feed Junmyeon. 

“I’ve never tasted anything like this.” Junmyeon admits, waiting for Chanyeol to pop another one into his mouth and letting out a happy hum when he gets it. 

He doesn’t let Chanyeol stop, either. He keeps bugging him to feed him under the lie that he doesn’t want to stain his fingers, but Junmyeon’s fingers _are_ already stained, Chanyeol knows that, but he doesn’t mind indulging him for the afternoon. They just got home after all, and this is the first time they’ve been truly by themselves for the past week.

Chanyeol ends up sitting leaning back against a tree, one of the containers sitting beside them with the lid tossed off of it. Junmyeon is curled up against his side like he owns the spot, both of them quiet and taking in the peaceful nature surrounding them. 

He feels something at his lips, jumping a bit and looking at Junmyeon in alarm before seeing that he’s holding one of the berries, looking at Chanyeol expectantly with a bright, toothy smile.

Chanyeol gets distracted within the second, a fond grin appearing on his lips as he takes in how happy Junmyeon looks, his lips already stained by the berries. 

It takes a few moments before his brain comes back online and he hesitantly opens his mouth, making Junmyeon light up and carefully place the berry into his mouth. Junmyeon is adorably careful with doing the act, watching Chanyeol close his mouth and hum contently. 

If you would have told Chanyeol a year ago that he’d fall in love with a water user, almost die, and then end up where he is right now he would have thought you were crazy. Not even just crazy, but insane and wanting to get back at him for _something._

But now he has Junmyeon, a snarky, dangerously cute water user by his side somehow. Maybe it’s fate, fire and water being together, or maybe the universe is just gearing up to throw something much worse at them and is letting the two men get a taste of love before it’s over. 

Chanyeol couldn’t even begin to tell you how he fell in love in the middle of a war zone with someone who was strong enough to participate in the riots, strong enough to survive being a lab rat without anyone to speak to. 

Looking at Junmyeon now, grinning up at him with stained lips and teeth, it’s all worth it; the riots, the friends taken from Chanyeol, _everything._

Maybe they’ll make it out of this, if anyone can, it’ll be them.

Chanyeol’s heard America is nice this time of year, and maybe the other two want to take a trip soon.

**Author's Note:**

> holy shit I had no plan at all for this but continuous writing saved my ass lmao  
> this isn't beta'd, so if you catch anything that I've managed to miss, just let me know  
> I wasn't even sure if I wanted to post this bc it's not exactly some people's cup of tea, but we're throwing ourselves to the wolves rn  
> I never fully gave the reasoning inside the fic, but if you didn't realize, blood flows like water. Junmyeon, if focused enough, can control it. That's how the first death happened.  
> I was kind of hesitant to include the boys bc some people really don't like it, but I was around when they were still ot12, so it felt right to throw them in since it fit. Sorry if you didn't like it lol.
> 
> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/softrci), and that's where I'll post anything to do with future fics, and just gushing abt boys, so follow me if you want :)
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/)


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